Magical Experiences: Revised
by Blackfang8
Summary: Sasuke's turned into a cat. Naruto's turned into a 6yr old. Chaos'll reign in Hogwarts w/ the arrival of not only Naruto & friends, but the Jounins too. And what exactly are the snake megalomaniacs up to? SmartNaru, yaoi/slash/boyxboy, multiple pairings
1. Sasuke's a CAT!

Disclaimer: I do not own, at all. If I did, I would be able to write as much as I wanted since school/work wouldn't get in the way. Then again, I would still probably be broke.  
Warnings: OOC, AU, Language, etc.

A/N: It has been three years since I first started writing this, and I can see that I had a lot of room to improve. I'm leaving up the original post, but I will stop posting chapters on it. This will be the complete version of Magical Experiences, with an improved format, at least I hope so. In any case, I think that leaving the original ME up will show my improvement as a writer. I hope that you enjoy.

(Re)Posted: 20 October 2009  
Word Count: 2,805

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**Chapter One: Sasuke's a _CAT!?!_**

Sasuke stared at himself in shock, his wide black eyes staring back at him on the water's surface. Uchiha Sasuke, the ice prince, heart throb of Konoha, was a small black cat with a bluish tint to his fur. Recovering from his shock, he growled angrily.

How the hell did he manage to turn himself into a _cat_?

He was positive he hadn't messed up the hand seals because he had used the Sharigan to memorize the small list. No, he couldn't have gotten the seals wrong. Staring back at his reflection, he groaned inwardly as he realized that if anyone found out about his mistake, especially Naruto, he wouldn't hear the end of it. Just the thought of the blonde dobe caused Sasuke's heart to race.

Shaking himself he forced his mind to think of a way out of this predicament. Scowling at himself angrily for not thinking of it sooner, Sasuke tried to release the jutsu. Nothing happened, at all. He paced around the small clearing angrily for a few minutes before he finally calmed down enough to consider his options. Asking for help was not even an option. Being found in his new form was also out. So was going home when he had no idea when the jutsu might wear off.

His clothes laid in the middle of the clearing, next to the cursed scroll that had started the entire mess. After several minutes of pawing, fumbling, and tugging at his clothes, Sasuke managed to wrap his clothes around the scroll, making a somewhat messy bundle. A quick scan of his surroundings wielded a small gap between two giant tree roots. Dragging his clothes over, he forced them into the small space. He kicked some leaves on top in an attempt to make them less visible. Once he was satisfied that his clothes were hidden well, Sasuke set off for the village.

The walk would take a while, but that gave him time to think of a way to get out of the mess he was in. But as he walked, his thoughts kept straying to a certain blonde. It had been almost a year since Naruto had dragged him back from the evil grasp of Orochimaru.

He had both legs and arms broken as well as a couple of ribs. Naruto had dragged him back to the village despite his own broken bones and other severe wounds. Hell, he had even taken the time to treat his injuries and splint his arms and legs, neglecting his own injuries. It was while Naruto had half-carried, half-dragged him back to Konoha that he had realized that not only was he weak for going to Orochimaru, but he loved the blonde dobe.

It took Naruto a week to reach the gates of Konoha, and before that he had used the last of his chakra to summon a frog and send him ahead with a message for Tsunade and Sakura to meet them at the gates. Naruto had just stepped inside the gates before Tsunade and Sakura arrived.

With a huge smile, Naruto whispered to Sakura, "Sakura-chan, I brought him back."

After that, Naruto had passed out. To say Sasuke was surprised when the Hokage had caught the falling blonde was the understatement of the century. What shocked him even more was when Sakura came up to him and slapped him hard across the face. Then she picked him up and rushed to the hospital with Tsunade, Naruto cradled in the Godaime's arms. When they had reached the hospital, the staff had insisted on treating him first, completely ignoring Naruto. One of the doctors had even gone so far as to say that Tsunade shouldn't waste her time or chakra on the blonde boy in her arms.

She had shot the man a glare that put the Uchiha Death Glare to shame. If looks could kill, the man would have been six feet under after suffering a very slow and painful death. Sasuke shuddered just remembering the look. If Naruto hadn't woken up at that moment, he was sure that the Hokage would have beaten the poor man to a bloody pulp.

"Tsunade-baa-chan, you have to heal Sasuke. I hurt him pretty bad and it took me a week to drag him here." Looking down at the boy in her arms, her face softened immediately.

"Not until I heal you first, brat." At these words, Naruto began to struggle in her arms.

"If you don't heal Sasuke first, I'll run off and join the Akatsuki as soon as I'm healed." Sasuke's jaw dropped as well as everyone else's that was in the room. Naruto had stopped struggling and was now glaring at the Godaime who was glaring right back.

"Fine. Sakura, follow me. Bring Sasuke with you. You three, bring Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Iruka here. Tell them it's my orders and if they don't came as fast as they can, then tell them to run as fast and as far as they can because I will hunt them down and castrate them after torturing them very, very, slowly. And if anyone speaks of Sasuke's return you will have an even worst fate than what awaits Jiraiya and Kakashi if they aren't here in the next half hour. And you, go and fetch Shizune, tell her its an emergency and tell her to be ready to heal some broken bones. Now, everyone get back to work. Follow me Sakura."

Sakura dumped him into a wheel chair before she followed Tsunade to a private room with two beds. Sakura easily lifted him into one of the beds while Naruto was gently placed into the other.

"Baa-chan, Sasuke first." Tsunade sighed heavily as she turned to glare at Sasuke. He had stared back, his face devoid of all emotion. His cheek still throbbed painfully where Sakura had slapped him. As Sakura began to strip him of his clothing, Tsundae began to gather bandages and ointments and a variety of other medical things. Sakura had just finished stripping him down to his boxers when Shizune arrived.

"Sakura, you take his left arm and ribs, I'll take his legs, and Shizune you take his right arm and ribs. Leave the cuts and bruises for later unless their deep. Take care of the serious injuries, the minor ones we'll bandage and take care of later." Nodding, the three women took their places and began to the slow process of healing his broken bones. Sakura and Shizune finished at roughly the same time and began to clean and bandage his cuts and bruises. As soon as Tsunade had finished healing Sasuke's legs, she went over to Naruto and began to gently remove the blonde's clothing.

Glimpsing Sasuke watching Naruto, Tsunade shot him a glare before puling a curtain across the middle of the room, blocking his view of the blonde boy. After finishing bandaging him up, Shizune went over to help the Godaime with healing Naruto. Sakura helped him into a hospital gown before she started to clean up while keeping an eye on him. Sasuke had stared blankly at the ceiling.

The curtain was pulled back just seconds before the door flew open and Jiriaya and Kakashi rushed in, Iruka walking in calmly behind them. The second his eyes rested on Naruto he turned deathly pale before he rushed over to the heavily bandaged boy. Naruto managed a weak smile before his eyes slid closed. Jirayia, if Sasuke remembered correctly, went over to Tsunade and whispered something to her. Kakashi had caught sight of him and his single visible eye had widened in shock and disbelief. Sasuke felt his lips twitch into a smirk as he spoke.

"The dobe brought me back. The dumbass beat the shit out of me and brought me back." Sasuke gave a bitter laugh as he felt his eyes well up with tears as he thought of all the pain and trouble he had caused his teammates and teacher because of his weakness. Sasuke stared down as his hands, a few tears falling onto them. For the first time since Naruto had dragged him through the village gates, Sakura spoke to him.

"And you call Naruto a dobe. Baka, you aren't weak. If you were, we would have given up on getting you back. But don't expect us to forgive you so easily just 'cause we're happy to have you back." The pink-haired kunoichi gently took his hand. Sasuke barely spoke above a whisper, but Sakura still heard him.

"You shouldn't be thanking us. You should thank Naruto, and you need to apologize as well." Sasuke nodded numbly. A shadow fell over him, causing him to look up. The silver-haired jounin leaned over him, his single eye narrowed as he studied him. Suddenly, his eye curved showing that he was smiling behind his mask.

"You're going to be doing a lot of charity work as well as team missions." Kakashi gave a chuckle before he walked over to Iruka and tried to calm the frantic chunin. When Iruka still didn't calm down, he whispered something into the shorter man's ear that caused him to blush and quiet down instantly.

Stepping on a rather sharp rock, Sasuke was jerked from his memories. Glancing around, he realized he had taken a path that led past the village. Snarling in frustration, Sasuke back tracked, slipping into another memory, a few days after he had come back.

Tsunade would have shipped Sasuke off to prison for a couple of years at least if Naruto hadn't convinced her to give him a different punishment. That was what had led to the gathering of all the villagers that had been old enough to remember what happened fifteen years ago when the Kyuubi had attacked the village. Why only the people from that time were gathered had Sasuke confused. He decided that no one his age was allowed to attend the meeting because Tsunade didn't want opinions like Naruto's, that or she didn't want to deal with the majority of his fan club.

He sat in a wheel chair next to beside the Hokage, his body heavily wrapped in bandages much like a mummy in appearance. Sasuke didn't really pay attention to the Godaime's speech, but he did pay attention to some of the things the crowd shouted when she finished her speech.

"He shouldn't be punished. The brat needs to be punished. Look what he did to his own teammate."

"Yeah, the Uzumaki brat should be punished. It's his fault that Sasuke off to Orochimaru."

"It's the demon's influence that caused Sasuke-san to make the mistake of joining the sound."

"Uzumaki should be punished."

"Yeah, punish the demon brat."

Sasuke stared at the sea of angry faces in utter disbelief. Their anger wasn't directed towards him, but towards Naruto, the person that had brought him back. They even blamed Naruto for his joining the Sound even though Sasuke had made the choice himself. He had nearly killed the Naruto when the dobe had tried to stop him.

Feeling a deadly and murderous aura, Sasuke turned to look at the person on his left who emitted the blood thirsty aura. Sasuke's eyes went wide in fear when he saw that it was Tsunade who was giving off the terrifying murderous aura. Sasuke had only felt fear towards a few people, and the Fifth Hokage had just become one of them. The crowd suddenly became deathly silent as they noticed the killer intent that rolled off their leader in wave after suffocating wave. When she spoke her voice was barely even a whisper.

"Not only do you break the Third's law, but you have the nerve to tell me to punish the boy that not only risked his life to get to Sasuke, but also brought him back alive?" Tsunade glared at the crowd before a malicious grin broke her stony face.

"Alright. Naruto's punishment will be for him to execute his friend, Uchiha Sasuke, in front of the entire village in front of the Hokage monument. The execution will take place tomorrow at noon." Sasuke had stared in wide eyed horror at the Fifth Hokage. The crowd immediately broke into an angry outburst. Tsunade silenced them with a glare before she spoke.

"You told me that you wanted me to punish Naruto. Having him kill the very person that he spent two years chasing after is far more painful than a couple of years in jail. Now, like I've already said, the execution will take place tomorrow at noon. That is my decision, and it's final. Argue, and you will be thrown in jail. This is what you asked for. Everyone is to attend. This meeting is now over." With those final words, she turned her back to the angry crowd and walked off stage. Shizune followed her, pushing Sasuke in front of her.

Sasuke didn't say a word. Time seemed to drag by until it was finally the next day. A little before noon, he found himself on another stage in a wheel chair. His face was completely emotionless and his eyes were dead. A dazed looking Naruto was standing next to him in his usual orange jumpsuit. Silencing the crowd, Tsunade spoke.

"Uzumai Naruto, you are here by ordered to execute Uchiha Sasuke. This is at the request of the village that you be punished." Sasuke had turned just in time to see Tsunade wrap Narut's fingers around the handle of the kunai that would end his life. Sasuke forced himself to look at Naruto, but he refused to meet his blue eyes.

What Naruto did next shocked everyone. He stabbed himself in the hand, then pulled the blade out and stabbed himself in the arm before anyone could stop him. Tsunade had grabbed Naruto's wrist before he could plunge the kunai into his chest. Sasuke stared terrified at the blood dripping from the blonde's limp arm. The kunai fell from Naruto's hand with a dull thud. His eyes were dead as he stared blankly at the crowd. The sight of Naruto's dull, blue eyes was enough to break his heart.

Sakura had rushed onto the stage seconds after Naruto had dropped the kunai. The pink-haired medic-nin immediately began to heal the dazed blonde's wounds. Her vivid green eyes practically glowed with hatred as she took a glance at the crowd. Tsunade had whispered something into her student's ear and moments later, Sakura had carried Naruto away bridal-style. Sasuke had felt the sudden urge to run as Tsunade's murderous aura encompassed the stage and part of the crowd. When she spoke, her voice was a deadly whisper.

"The Fourth and the Third would not have given their lives to protect this village if they knew just how sad and pathetic its citizens were. I would never have agreed to become the Godaime if it wasn't for Naruto. And the only reason I'm still the Hokage after seeing how ungrateful you are, is because of that boy. Your hatred and resentment towards that innocent boy was so large, you were willing to kill the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. Now, do you want me to choose a punishment for Sasuke based off of your opinions or do you trust me to decide on a fair punishment?"

No one said a word. Smiling one of those creepy, fake smiles, Tsunade turned to stare at Sasuke. He forced his face to remain smooth and calm as he stared back. He knew better than to glare at the Hokage in front of a large crowd.

"I'll place you on a six month probation. During that time, you will accomplish D-rank missions that do not require a three-man team. These missions will be done by you as soon as you recovered enough to start. Don't expect to be paid for these missions either. Other than that, you will have a curfew, an ANBU guarding you at all times, and a few other rules I'll explain to you when you can leave the hospital. Shizune, take him back to his room and stand guard. I'll join you shortly." As soon as they were out of sight of the crowd, Shizune picked him up and carried him to the hospital. He was in the same room he had been brought in when he first arrived. Sasuke was surprised when he saw Sakura standing next to an unconscious Naruto, her face creased with worry.

Sasuke was pulled from his memories again as he felt a familiar chakra pulse. Eyes widening, he jumped into a nearby bush, slicing the pads of his paws on the briars. Peering through the branches, Sasuke was horrified when he saw a pair of familiar orange clad legs stop in front of him. Holding his breath, Sasuke waited for the blonde to leave.

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A/N: Well, that's the first revised chapter. I hope that it's easier to read than the original that I posted. I'll be posting a revised chapter about every other day, and once those are posted, I'll be posting new chapters about once every week. Reviews are always appreciated, and for return readers, I hope you can be a little more patient. This will be finished within the next year.


	2. A New Understanding

Disclaimer: I don't own.  
Warnings: OOC, AU, Language, etc. Mention of rape in this chapter.

A/N: There went my plan of posting a chapter every other day. Well, new plan. I'll be posting a revised/new chapter every Wednesday, and if opportunity allows, maybe on other days too, but expect at least a single chapter every Wednesday. I'll also be including a Story Stats on the first chapter that I post each Wednesday. So, even though I'm posting two maybe three chapters today, only this one will have the Story Stats bit in it. I'm also still working on getting a poll set up, so no need to panic about not being able to get your vote in on a pairing you wanted.

(Re)Posted: 4 November 2009  
Word Count: 2,955

Story Stats Chapter 1:  
Reviews: 3  
Hits: 167  
C2s: 1  
Favs: 2  
Alerts: 4

Key:  
**"Demon speaking"** - Usually the Kyuubi, and occurs either within the mindscape, or in the physical plane  
**'Demon speaking telepathically'** - Demon speaking from within the mind and can only be heard by the host

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**Chapter Two: A New Understanding**

A pair of small tanned hands parted the branches of the bush, spiked blonde hair and a pair of large blue eyes were visible behind the small hands.

"Found you. Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." Gently, Naruto reached foward and carefully picked him up. He ignored the small cuts he received as he carefully withdrew the small cat from the bush.

As soon as Sasuke was entirely free of the branches, he began to struggle, trying to break free of the firm grip the blonde had on him.

"I won't hurt you. Let me at least take you home so I can clean those cuts. I'll give you something to eat too if you're good."

Sasuke gave up struggling and allowed his loud-mouthed teammate to carry him the rest of the way to the village. It was useless after all, and all he would do was hurt Naruto if he continued.

He watched his surroundings quielty, noticing the slight glares the guards gave Naruto as he entered the village.

As they continued to walk through the village, Sasuke noticed the hate and raged filled glares the villagers were directing at Naruto. Twitching his ears, he picked up a few of the things they were whispering.

"Why won't it just die?"

"It was all his fault that Sasuke-kun ran away from the village."

"Poor cat, its probably going to be tortured."

"Yeah, then the demon brat'll probably eat it." His eyes wide, he looked up at Naruto just in time to see a rock sail past his head, grazing his cheek.

Rocks and other small debris soon came pelting towards them. Naruto kept walking, his usual wide grin plastered on his face. Taking a closer look, Sasuke realized that it didn't quite reach Naruto's eyes. The usually dazzling blue orbs looking dull and lifeless.

As the projectiles grew bigger in size and the whispering became more audible, only then did Naruto quicken his pace.

Reaching an apartment complex, he entered the lobby and walked past an older woman at the receptionist desk. She gave Naruto a look of pure hatred as soon as she caught sight of the blonde.

When he reached the stairs, he tucked Sasuke more firmly into his grasp before he sprinted up the stairs all the way to the fourth floor.

Naruto had to run across each floor in order to reach the next flight of stairs.

Sasuke stared at Naruto as he stopped in front of the very last door at the end of the hall on the fourth floor. He expected the dobe to be at least slightly out of breath, even if only briefly, but the blonde boy didn't even look ruffled. Sasuke was completely shocked but quickly recovered as Naruto dug out his keys and unlocked the door to his apartment.

Thinking about it, he had never been to Naruto's place before. He knew where he lived, but he had never actually been inside the blonde's apartment before. Shutting the door behind them, Naruto took a minute to lock it. Counting, Sasuke felt his jaw drop.

There were at least a dozen different locks on his door, ranging from deadbolts to the little chains that wouldn't allow you to open the door completely. Finished with the locks, Naruto took his sandals off before he padded down the hall to the living room.

It was small but it had a lived-in feel to it. There was a sofa, a large easy-chair, a coffee table, an end table with a lamp and a small TV in the corner. An open wall revealed a small table with a few chairs and just beyond that was a small kitchen, perfect for a single person.

Two doors were on the back wall with a decent sized blank portion between them. The walls were a dark blue that matched the large throw rug on the living room floor.

Before he could take an even closer look at his surroundings, Naruto walked into the bathroom.

Carefully the blonde examined his cut paws. "It's not too bad. I'll give you a bath then wrap your little paws up before I feed you."

Still holding him, Naruto turned the water on. As the bathtub filled with water, he dug out a thick bluish-green towel that matched the tiles in color. Setting the towel aside, Naruto turned the water off before he searched for some soap and shampoo.

"Sorry, but the water's going to be cold. I'll try to make this quick for you."

True to his word, the water was indeed cold. Sasuke growled in displeasure as the icy coldness penetrated his fur. Kneeling in front of the bathtub, Naruto squirted some shampoo into his hands and began to work it into his fur. Sasuke felt his body warm up as he realized that Naruto was giving him a bath.

With one hand, he began to gently massage one of his cut paws, washing the dried blood and dirt from the wound. He did that to his other paws too before he rinsed him off.

Lifting him up, Naruto squeezed some of the extra water out of his fur before he bundled him up in the towel. Sitting down on the bathroom floor, Naruto began to rub him dry with the towel, a small smile on his face.

Sasuke felt his heart melt as he looked at Naruto's smiling face. It made almost all of his other smiles seem obviously fake, so fake as to be painful. It actually made him wonder just how many of Naruto's smiles had been real.

Once he was dry, Naruto pulled out a jar of ointment and a roll of bandages. Having Sasuke lie belly up, Naruto rubbed some of the ointment into the pad of each paw before he bandaged all four of them.

Cleaning everything up, Naruto stooped down and picked Sasuke up before he left the bathroom. Sasuke rolled his eyes when Naruto began to scratch him behind the ears, but he couldn't stop the purr. Sasuke opened his eyes when he felt something cold and wet hit his nose. Looking up, Sasuke was shocked to find sparkling blue eyes glistening with tears, a few spilling over to trail wet paths down his cheeks.

Hearing the small black cat purr, Naruto couldn't stop the wave of sadness that swamped him. He desperately wished he could keep the small animal, but Naruto knew that if he did he would only feel worse when the cat eventually left.

He would be alone again.

Although, technically Naruto would never be completely alone with the Kyuubi no Kitsune sealed inside him. It just wasn't the same though, although it had saved him from being truly alone when he was younger.

He had first learned of the demon fox's existence when he was four.

It was late winter and the villagers had thrown the usual rocks, rotten vegetables, and garbage at him. But because it was winter, the things they threw at him were frozen or semi frozen.

One viciously thrown rock had hit him in the temple, leaving a small gash that bled slowly. Seeing the blood, the villagers threw more things at him.

Catching sight of a group of men approaching him with menacing grins on their faces, Naruto ran away and ended up in the forest just outside of Konoha.

The group of men had followed him and now the five surrounded him. They had beaten him, cracking a few ribs and breaking his left arm. Nearly every inch of his body was bruised or bleeding, sometimes both. They had then each taken a turn in raping him.

Before they left, one of the men pulled out a kunai and sliced the whisker marks he had on his cheeks. They were now red as they bled, his tears mixing with the blood making a redish trail as they slid down his cheeks.

They left him alone in that clearing, the last thing he saw before he blacked out was the starry night sky.

When he next opened his eyes, he found himself in a tunnel. Pipes adorned the walls and the steady dripping of water echoed around him. With nothing better to do, Naruto stood up and began walking along the dim tunnel.

He thought that the villagers had dumped his unconcious body into the sewers. It was entirely possible, considering he had woken up in dumpsters before.

A few minutes later he came to a large room, the back wall drawing his attention immediately. The entire length of the back wall held the bars of a cage that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. A piece of paper with the kanji for 'seal' held the cage doors shut.

Edging closer to the giant cage, Naruto tried to see into the inky darkness.

A giant pair of red eyes with slitted pupils blinked open in front of him. He fell back in surprise before he crawled forward to get a closer look at the cat-like eyes. For what felt like hours, Naruto stared into the large eyes.

A large paw shot out through the bars, stopping short of clawing him. He jumped slightly in surprise, but didn't try to move away. It hadn't tried to actually hurt him after all.

Naruto blinked as a giant scarlet fox came into view.

It had nine tails that swayed behind it, and he could now see that the large fox was lying down. Naruto stared back at the fox's face, noting that its lips were curled back revealing its sharp fangs as it snarled at him. Its eyes were narrowed in a glare.

At first he was surprised and more than just slightly afraid, but as he continued to stare at the huge fox, he lost all fear that he might of had for it.

A wide grin spreading across his face, Naruto inched closer to the cage. The fox had stopped snarling at him and was now staring at him with mild curiosity and amusement. Naruto stopped right in front of the cage and sat down, his arms crossed against his small chest.

Naruto may have been a young child but he was far from stupid, he would have been considered a prodigy and genius if the villagers had bothered to look past his mask of stupidity.

Finally fed up with the silence, Naruto spoke up.

"Ne, are you the Kyuubi no Kitsune? You're really cute for a demon fox. Can I hug you? Oh, where are we?" Naruto stared at the fox expectantly with his wide, innocent, blue eyes.

**"I am the demon fox. No, you can't hug me. Call me cute again and I'll kill you. We are currently deep within your mind." **Kyuubi stared down at the small child that was her container. She had never had a human call her cute, much less ask if they could hug her. She doubted that the very thought had ever crossed a human's mind until now.

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed.

It all made sense now. If they were in his mind, then that meant the Kyuubi was in his mind. Which meant the demon fox had been sealed into him or something of a similar effect. Otherwise they wouldn't be speaking face to face within his mind. It also explained a lot.

The villagers hated him because they thought that he was the demon fox itself. As his young mind comprehended the reason he was hated, he broke down and started to cry. Now that he knew the reason behind the hatred, he lost all hope of being liked, let alone loved.

What chance did he have of changing their perspective of him? What chance did he have of convincing anyone that he was not a demon if all anyone saw when they looked at him was the very fox he was sitting in front of?

Kyuubi had expected the child to become angry and scream at her, to rant and rave at the unfairness of it all, she hadn't even considered the possibility of the blonde boy crying. She had seen the things that the villagers had done to the small boy because of her. He should hate her, at the very least be angry, not a crying puddle of pain.

Maternal instincts kicking in, she spoke gently to the crying boy.

**"Kit, come here."**

Still crying, Naruto stood up and stumbled into the cage. As soon as he entered, Kyuubi wrapped one of her tails around him and cradled him, gently rocking him back and forth.

Naruto cried even harder, but soon his tears began to slow as the gentle rocking lulled him to sleep. He snuggled closer to the fur as he drifted into a peaceful sleep. Kyuubi stared at the sleeping child cradled in her tails. A deep sadness filled her as she thought of all the things that the small boy had to endure because of her weakness. Forcing the sadness and guilt away, she vowed to help the sleeping blonde.

She would train him, teach him, do everything she could to stop his tears.

When he woke up an hour later, he found himself in his bed, his injuries completely healed. For a moment, Naruto felt himself panic until he heard a voice.

**'Don't worry Kit. I took control of your body and took you home. I also healed your injuries, including your broken bones. Now, do you want me to train you and teach you?' **

For a moment, he was unable to think, then in a timid and small voice, he asked aloud. "You'll train me? Do you really meant it Kyu-chan?"

His voice was filled with so much hope it was heartbreaking.

**'Hai Kit, I will train you. Now get up, our training will start as soon as you're done eating breakfast. You also don't need to speak aloud to answer me, just think what you want to say.' **

Naruto hadn't said a word, he just simply jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen and made himself some breakfast. It was the first day and the start of his new life.

Snapping out of his memories, Naruto quickly dried his tears and entered the kitchen. He had promised a meal to the small cat if he behaved after all, and he never broke his promise.

Giving him a final scratch behind the ears he gently placed Sasuke on table before entering the kitchen, donning a dark blue apron. Sasuke watched in amazement as Naruto summoned a Kage Bushin and set about making something to eat. It took a lot of chakra to create a solid clone, and yet Naruto made one to help him cook like it was no big deal.

Sasuke sat down and began to ponder everything he had just learned about Naruto.

As he began to ponder the villagers' hate, Sasuke realized that he knew almost nothing about his blonde teammate. Everything he knew about Naruto was what he could find out by asking any of the Rookie Nine, or even Team Gai. Being the blonde's teammate, he should at least know something that the others didn't. Naruto would undoubtedly know something about Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, and himself that few others would know, and yet Sasuke couldn't say the same thing about his blonde teammate.

He was so lost in thought, he didn't notice as Naruto set two plates down on the table, releasing the chakra he used to create his clone before he sat down, the blonde doppelganger disappearing in a poof of smoke. It wasn't until Naruto poked him in the nose with his chopsticks did Sasuke realize that he had spaced out.

Scowling, he swiped at the offending pieces of wood.

Chuckling, Naruto went back to eating.

Sasuke felt his jaw drop as he watched Naruto eat at a normal speed. It was something he could honestly say he had never really seen before. Snapping his mouth closed, Sasuke inspected the small plate of chicken in front of him. Taking a small bite, Sasuke nearly choked on it as he gasped.

It was the best tasting chicken he had ever had. There was no way he could properly describe what it tasted like, or what was even used, but it was the best chicken he ever had the pleasure of eating.

He ate slowly, savoring each morsel until there was nothing left. He even licked the plate clean before Naruto took the plates and placed them in the sink to be washed later.

Within moments of the blonde sitting down again, an urgent tapping sound could be heard.

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A/N: Well, there's chapter two. Thanks for reading, and I love reviews. Not much else to say other than that chapter three will be up later today/tonight. Maybe even chapter four.


	3. Secrets and Missions

Disclaimer: I do not own.  
Warnings: OOC, AU, Language, Slash/Yaoi/boyxboy pairings, etc. Mention of rape in this chapter too.

A/N: I forgot to add the slash warning in the earlier two chapters, but it is in the summary, so don't say that you weren't warned. I'll have a list of established pairings in the next chapter or the one after it. This chapter is significantly longer than the first two. All of my chapters will be over two thousand words long, some of the longer ones hitting close to ten thousand, if not a bit longer.

(Re)Posted: 4 November 2009  
Word Count: 8,450

Key:  
**"Demon speaking"** - Usually the Kyuubi, and occurs either within the mindscape, or in the physical plane  
**'Demon speaking telepathically'** - Demon speaking from within the mind and can only be heard by the host  
_'Host mentally responding to demon/or thoughts'_ - Host 'speaking' to demon, mentally/telepathically, also may be thoughts

**

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Chapter Three: Secrets and Missions

With a sigh, Naruto stood up and opened his kitchen window, allowing the messenger hawk to fly in. Taking the scroll, Naruto read it, absentmindedly stroking the hawk's feathers as it perched on the back of his chair.

Probably waiting for a reply before it would leave. Otherwise it would have left already.

As if to prove his point, Naruto tossed the scroll onto the table and disappeared into what Sasuke assumed was his bedroom, in search of writing material. While Naruto was gone, Sasuke took a look at the scroll, wondering what was in it. It was a bit unusual to need to send a reply via messenger hawk, at least if you were a Genin, which Naruto still technically was. Even if the blonde was taking some of the highest ranked missions.

To his utter shock it wasn't addressed to Naruto at all, but to a person called Fox.

Then it hit him. It was addressed to the Anbu captain Fox. He was not only the youngest Anbu ever, but he was also the youngest captain ever. It was said that he had become an Anbu at six and a captain at eight. He had broken both Kakashi-sensei's and Itachi's records. He was a genius among geniuses. A prodigy among prodigies.

Sasuke didn't get a chance to read the rest of the scroll's contents because Naruto chose to return at that moment. Handing a scroll to the hawk, he gave it a final pat on the head before it took off out the window.

Sighing, Naruto slid the window shut. Picking up the scroll, he read it once more before he burned it.

"I guess I should give you a name. I'll call you Sasuke since you remind me of the bastard. If he ever found out I named a cat after him, he would probably kill me. Come on Sasuke, I have to go see the old hag."

Picking him up, he went to the door, grabbing his sandals before going back to the kitchen window and opening it. Sitting on the window ledge, he slid his sandals on before he closed the window behind him, using chakra to stick to the side of the building to keep from falling off. Tucking Sasuke safely into his orange jacket, Naruto took off, jumping from roof to roof as he made his way to the Hokage tower.

Tsunade frowned as she read Naruto's letter.

She had asked if he would do a simple guard job for a year, but he said that he didn't want to. Not as Fox anyway.

She had been shocked beyond belief when she found out that Naruto was not only an Anbu, but an Anbu captain at that. The teen could play the blonde idiot so well it had her worried.

Jiriaya didn't even know how smart or strong Naruto was. He didn't know until Naruto's mask had slipped and he had saved the pervert from being seriously injured from a surprise attack that could have possibly killed him.

It broke her heart each time Naruto saved the village from utter destruction only to have them treat him like a monster in return. It was time for her to break his mask, the mask he had built to protect himself from the hate, to keep him sane.

Hopefully this mission would be just what he needed.

Naruto relaxed when he entered the Hokage's office. He used the window just to annoy her.

He was disappointed when she didn't take the bait.

"Baa-chan, what do you want?"

"An old friend of Sarutobi's sent a letter asking him to send a team to protect his school and a certain student in particular. When I sent him a letter stating that his friend had died, he sent me another letter still insisting that he would pay for a team. He even offered to let me name the price. He did ask for ninjas that looked young enough to pass as students, that's where you come in. If you are unwilling to go as Fox, then I will let you assemble a team that you choose and take them with you. I have one condition though. You tell them the truth. If you don't, then I will. Either you tell them, or I will, either way, the truth will be told. And I won't sugar-coat it either."

Naruto looked at her in horror. She wouldn't tell them about Kyuubi, would she? Although she knew the truth behind the Kyuubi attack and had accepted the fox, the others didn't. Even if she hadn't know the truth of the attack, she still had accepted and acknowledged him as a person, and didn't think of him as the fox itself.

"I won't tell them about our mutual friend, or about any of your contacts. But I will not spare any other detail. If you don't want to tell them yourself and you ask me to, then I won't be as harsh. But Naruto, it will happen. Now, what is your answer?"

Naruto wanted to run away, but he knew that Tsunade-baa-chan was doing it for his own good. He couldn't hide forever, and he didn't want to hide anymore. That didn't mean he was ready for the truth to come out just yet.

**'Kit, you knew this day would come. I warned you about this when you accepted my training. It is time for you to destroy your mask, you don't need it anymore. If you keep it on longer, you'll only be hurting yourself.' **

_'Kyu-chan, I'm scared. I don't want them to hate me. I don't think I could take it if they did. And what would Sasuke think? If he hated me I would just die.' _

**'Kit, I've told you. If they hated you for hiding from them, then they were never your friends. Now, either tell them yourself or Tsunade will tell them for you. But, you should tell them yourself because you owe them that much for hiding from them for so long.' **

Naruto's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"I'll accept the mission Hokage-sama. For the team members, I want all of the Rookie 9, Gai's team, and the Sand siblings if you can get them to agree to assist on this mission. When does the mission start?"

Tsunade couldn't stop the sadness and guilt that filled her heart as she looked at Naruto's dead eyes. She didn't want to hurt the blonde, but this was something that needed to be done, and she could only hope that Naruto would be happier in the end. If he wasn't, there would be hell to pay. No one got away with hurting her blonde gaki. Not if she could help it.

"The school year doesn't start for a month, but if you guys are going to blend in as students then you will need to arrive there earlier to train. You leave in two days. If you want to tell anyone else the truth, then tell them to meet here at noon two days from now. And Naruto, I'm sorry."

Naruto looked at the person who he thought of as an older sister, a mother, a grandmother. He felt a small smile tug at his lips. She wasn't doing this to hurt him, wouldn't willingly hurt him. And he wouldn't hurt her by ignoring her apology, not over something that she shouldn't apologize for in the beginning.

"I know Baa-chan, thank you."

And before she could say another word, he left. This time he used the doors, shocking the two Anbu that stood guard.

Sasuke was in a state of shock.

The Hokage had said that Naruto was Fox.

As Sasuke processed all of the information that he had learned, he failed to notice that Naruto had arrived in front of Kakashi's apartment building and was making his way to their sensei's front door.

Knocking on the door, Naruto waited impatiently for his former teacher to answer. When he finally did, Naruto had to suppress the urge to smirk when a half-naked and very angry Jounin answered the door.

He still had his face mask on but his left eye wasn't covered, revealing the Sharingan.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?"

Naruto couldn't stop himself from smirking.

"I came by to tell you to meet me in the Hokage's office two days from now at noon. Since Iruka-sensei's here as well, could you also tell him? You better not be late, this is important."

At the mention of Iruka's name, Kakashi blushed a deep red. Something that had Sasuke staring wide eyed. Never had he expected to see Kakashi blush. The man was famous for finding amusement in making others uncomfortable. And yet here he was, seeing a bright red blush creep from beneath Kakashi's mask and across half of the man's naked torso.

Trying to hide his embarrassment he looked down at the cat that was tucked inside of Naruto's jacket. His eyes widened a fraction in surprise before he quickly slid a grin on his face. Not that it could be seen beneath his mask.

"Naruto, where did you find that cat?"

"I found him outside the village. Poor thing had cut his feet up so I took him home, gave him a bath, took care of his feet, and fed him. Why?"

"I know the owner of the cat. She's worried sick about him. Do you think you could give him to me so I can return him to her?" Naruto sighed, then gently he lifted Sasuke out of his jacket and handed him to the silver-haired Jounin.

"Don't forget to tell Iruka-sensei. Could you also tell Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Anko, and Ibiki the same thing?" Kakashi nodded.

"Oh, I thought you should know that I was the one that set you guys up. I mean, it was so obvious you guys liked each other. All you needed was a push. But Kakashi-sensei, if you hurt Iruka-sensei I swear I will hunt you down and torture you in every way I know how to before I leave you as close to dead as I can without actually killing you."

The glare that Naruto gave him had Kakashi wishing that he was somewhere far far away. Under a few miles of rock even. He had to be especially careful in how far he took his teasing of Iruka. Now he ran the risk of more than just ending up on the couch for a week, he risked ending up in the hospital for several months if Naruto thought he had truly hurt his cute little Iruka-chan.

With a wave, Naruto disappeared with a small pop and a cloud of smoke. Kakashi blinked in surprise. Since when did Naruto know how to teleport?

Closing his door, Kakashi glanced down at the cat in his arms. There went his afternoon of fun. At least with his cute little dolphin. He could still tease his broody little student. That was always amusing.

"Iruka, you better get dressed. We need to talk about a certain blonde student of ours as well as a certain broody teammate of his."

A shout of disappointment was heard from the bedroom as well as someone grumbling about something. Although he couldn't quite make out the words, Kakashi was fairly sure it was murmured threats of torture.

"Now Sasuke, how about we get you back to normal."

With that said, he placed the small cat on the couch before he disappeared down the hall, only to come back with a blanket and a very unhappy Iruka.

Tossing the blanket on top of his feline student, he went through a long chain of hand seals before he forced his chakra into Sasuke. With a small pop and a lot of smoke, Sasuke finally returned to normal.

He was very happy that Kakashi had thrown a blanket over him when he realized that he was completely naked. Iruka was almost just as flustered as he was, but the man quickly regained his calm.

"Now, Sasuke how exactly did you wind up as a cat?"

"I found this old scroll in the back of the shed and tried to do one of the jutsus, but I guess it went wrong." Sasuke desperately hoped that his teacher bought the lie and to his relief, he did.

"Well, at least I saved you from the pleasure of turning back to normal while you were with Naruto. Might as well do what Naruto asked me to. Do you have any idea what he's talking about?"

"I don't really know. Tsunade-sama gave him a mission and said something about telling the truth by himself or she would do it for him. Do you have any clothes I can borrow?"

Sasuke suddenly wished he hadn't asked when he saw the evil gleam in Kakashi's eyes. What the hell had he been thinking asking Kakashi? His perverted sensei was never to be trusted when it came to clothes. Especially with that gleam in his eyes. That was like asking Naruto what he would do with a thirty minute window to prank the entire village without retaliation. It just wasn't done.

"Why Sasuke-kun, I have just the outfit. It should fit you perfectly too, especially after we add a little make up and do something with you hair."

Before Kakashi could get it, Iruka slapped him on the head with the jounin's favorite little orange book.

"Don't even think about it. Just teleport Sasuke home, and if you don't, you know what happened when you tricked Naruto? Imagine that, only a hundred times worse." Iruka smirked when the silver-haired man went very pale.

That week had been absolute hell. There was no way Kakashi would risk an even worse repeat of that event. Placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, he teleported them into the Uchiha compound.

"I gotta go. But before I do, you definetly make a cute kitty."

Before he could even snap back, Kakashi was gone. Shaking his head, he put ideas of revenge against the silver-haired pervert to the back of his mind. The best time to exact revenge was when it was least expected after all.

Sasuke decided to take a shower and go to bed, his mind still reeling with everything he had just learned about Naruto. Maybe if he slept on it, things would make more sense. This was Naruto he was dealing with, so all he could really do was hope things would make more sense after he had a few hours of sleep.

---Time Skip---Two days later---

Naruto paced back and forth in front of Tsunade, slowly getting on her nerves. She finally snapped when he groaned and started to pull at his hair.

"Naruto, sit down and shut up. I can't take it anymore."

Instead of yelling back, he walked over to her and sat in her lap, curling up into a small ball as he rested his head on her large chest. Her anger disappearing, Tsunade wrapped her arms protectively around the young blonde. She shouldn't have snapped at him, he was already stressed out enough without her adding to it.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, but you've been pacing back and forth for the last half-hour."

Naruto didn't say anything, he simply let her hold him. After a few minutes passed in silence, he whispered softly into her chest, his admission almost muffled beyond recognition.

"I'm scared."

Pulling the blonde closer, Tsunade began to card her fingers through his blonde spikes. Naruto was more than just scared, he had to be terrified if he actually admitted to being afraid.

"Naruto, I'll make you a deal. If you tell them that you are the legendary Fox, then I will explain everything else. Do we have a deal?" Naruto nodded his head and pressed himself into her even more. Tsunade tightened her embrace, still soothingly stroking his hair. She would not let Naruto get hurt. If a single person even looked at Naruto wrong during the next few hours she would make sure that they went through hell. No one hurt her gaki.

He stayed curled in her lap as the Rookie 9, their senseis, Team Gai, Iruka, Anko, Ibiki, and the Sand siblings filed into the office. Jiraiya also showed up. The usual perverted grin he wore in her presence was absent as he looked around at the gathered group with solemn eyes. If she hadn't been his teammate, Tsunade would have missed the barely visible glint of promised violence. It seemed that she wasn't the only one that would become violent if the gaki was hurt.

Everyone was surprised to find Konoha's number one loud-mouth ninja curled up in the Hokage's lap like a small child, but they chose not to say anything and quickly hid their expressions of shock and disbelief. Tsunade took that as a good sign. None of them were demanding answers, which meant that no one knew why they had been gathered. And with Jiraiya there, she had an extra set of eyes to watch their reactions to what Naruto and herself were about to reveal. Any negative reactions would be dealt with.

Without looking at any of them, Naruto tossed his porcealin fox mask onto Tsunade's desk. He didn't want to see their reactions, not before he had a chance to brace himself for rejection.

"I'm Fox, the Anbu captain and legend." With that said, Naruto buried his face into Tsunade's chest trying to keep himself from crying, but tears still trickled from his eyes. Feeling Tsunade wrap her arms around him even more tightly, Naruto had to bite his lips to keep from making any noise. He should be the one calmly explaining things, not Tsunade, but he just wasn't that strong. He would not be able to keep his voice from breaking if he was the one speaking.

"It's true. Naruto had graduated the Academy when he was four and became a Chunin just after he turned five. He became a Jounin a week after his sixth birthday and then joined the Anbu two months after that. The Third assigned him to attend the Academy after he became a captain and restricted him to only the occasional S-class mission. I didn't find out until I read his records and I still didn't believe it until Naruto had dropped his mask and told me the truth himself. You can also ask Jiraiya, he was completely fooled too."

At that everyone turned, almost as one, to stare at the other legendary Sannin, seeking confirmation to what Tsunade had said.

"It's true. He saved my ass one time during our travels. I more than likely would have been killed if it wasn't for him."

Sakura was the first to recover from her shock and speak.

"Naruto, why did you lie?"

The question was simple but it cut him to the bone. No longer trying to hold back his tears, Naruto curled in on himself even more as he pressed closer to Tsunade. Why had he let the old hag corner him into telling the truth? His friends were going to hate him now, especially Sakura and Sasuke.

Tsunade sighed as she felt Naruto allow his tears to fall freely, her already damp chest quickly becoming drenched. Carding her fingers through blonde spikes once again, Tsunade offered what comfort she could. What she was about to ask him would possibly break her blonde gaki completely, but it also had the chance of erasing Naruto's fears almost entirely.

"Naruto, do you want me to tell them about her, about the village?"

As she had expected, Naruto instantly stiffened at her words, but what she didn't expect was what he did next. He relaxed and went completely boneless in her embrace, if that was possible, turning his head just enough so that his whispered voice came out clearly.

"Yes."

Sinking further into her seat, Tsunade didn't pause in her soothing petting of blonde locks as she carefully gathered Naruto closer to her. A single deep breath later, and Tsunade began to tell the simplest version of Naruto's life story that she could. She may have Naruto's permission, but there were just somethings that only Naruto should tell.

"Sakura, in order to know the answer to that question, you need to know what really happened fifteen years ago. When the Kyuubi attacked, the Yondaime defeated it, true, but he didn't kill it. I probably should say her. The Yondaime didn't kill her, he sealed her into a newborn child because it was impossible for a human to kill a demon. Naruto was that child. All the adults, as well as the children capable of remembering, of that time knew the truth. And the vast majority of that group believed that Naruto himself was the demon fox, not merely her container. After numerous demands to kill the demon, as well as several assassination attempts, the Third made a law forbidding anyone to speak about the events of that day, punishable by death. It was a law that he enforced too. At least fifty villagers were killed in those first few months before those that wanted the demon's death began to stop speaking openly of the Kyuubi. The Sandaime's law prevented those that knew from blatantly speaking about the Kyuubi's continued existence, but it didn't stop them from passing on their hate to your generation. The parents passed their hatred for Naruto onto their children, even going so far as to forbidding their children from going near or playing with him. The Third protected Naruto as well as he could, but he couldn't always watch over Naruto all of the time. And those that he appointed to guard Naruto didn't always do their job either. Which is why there are over two hundred medical records of injuries that Naruto received. The earliest ones are when he was three."

At the mention of his medical records, Naruto let out a small whimper as he remembered some of the more brutal things that were done to him, including rape. Those were memories he never wanted to relive again, and would have probably succeeded if it wasn't for the mission he had taken just a few months earlier. Not that he had told Tsunade. He didn't want to cause her even more paperwork, not when she could assign him D-rank missions for a year in retaliation. He also didn't really want to start a war, not when he knew that it would come back and bite him in the ass in the form of D-ranks once it was over. No, he'd have to tell her when she wasn't likely to go completely homicidal. Maybe after she had a dozen or so bottles of sake.

Wrapping both arms around Naruto, Tsunade began to rock ever so slightly. Steeling herself, Tsunade continued speaking. Just a few more minutes and everything would be over.

"When he was four, he was beaten and raped." At that there was a collective gasp around the room. Tsunade gritted her teeth as she continued. If the bastards weren't dead already, she would have tortured them slowly for years before she killed them in the most painful way possible. They deserved that and more for what they did to her gaki.

"That was the first time, and for the next four years he was raped on his birthday and a few other days each year by the same group of men."

Naruto began to visibly shake, but he remained silent. He focused on Tsunade's heartbeat, determined to stay rooted in reality and not get swept up in flashbacks of the past. That was the last thing that he needed at the moment.

"He may have been an Anbu member, but he had began his double life when he was four. By acting the idiot and lying about his real capabilities, he was able to live with fewer beatings from the the villagers with the exception of that one group of men. They've been dealt with, and are long dead. When I had ordered Naruto to execute Sasuke, it was because the villagers had dared to blame Naruto for his decision to run off to Sound, and then they had the nerve to demand that I punish him for it. To put it simply, Naruto didn't tell you the truth because he can't trust easily. When Mizuki betrayed his trust, tricking him into stealing the Forbidden Scroll, it made it even harder for him to trust anybody."

Naruto waited for the angry voices and harsh words now that Tsunade had finished speaking, but they never came. If he had had the courage to look, he would have seen the looks of shock, pain, and sadness on their faces.

Tsunade was looking and she gave a small smile. Naruto had managed to worm his way into all of their hearts, and it shattered those hearts to hear about the things he had been through. It would seem that she had no need to put anyone through pure hell, all of them had the same glint in their eyes as both herself and Jiraiya. Naruto had just gained another twenty-one fierce protectors, all of who would inflict pain on any that hurt the blonde.

Ibiki had seen many things and been through many things, but nothing could compare to what this boy had gone through and yet he still had and innocence about him that seemed impossible. He was amazed at the boy's strength. But that strength came at a cost, leaving the blonde just that more fragile with each person he trusted. He would not betray that trust. And he would make sure that those that hurt the blonde fox regretted doing so for the rest of their lives. There was a reason he was the head of Torture and Interrogation. Getting the Godaime to approve funding for a few new rooms would be easy enough to do, especially if she knew that they were for. Maybe he should get Anko to help him set everything up. It would give them both an outlet for their restless energy.

Listening to Tsunade's heartbeat, Naruto didn't try to fight as he was lulled to sleep. He was exhausted and starting a mission at less than full alertness was a sure way to either fail the mission, get himself, or others, killed.

Tsunade felt Naruto's shaking stop as his tears slowly stopped as well. She wasn't surprised when his breathing began to slow and even out as sleep claimed him. She didn't blame him for falling asleep, he had just been through hell and it wasn't over yet. He still had a mission to deal with while he tried to regain his emotional balance. Hopefully the time away from the village would be good for him.

"He's asleep. What was said in this room stays in this room. You can talk about it amongst yourselves but if this is leaked to anyone, you'll wish for a quick death. For I will give you the most painful death imaginable and then some. Now, I have a mission for the brats. Everyone else is dismissed."

Kakashi had to support a sobbing Iruka out of the room while Ibiki and Asuma had to guide the shell-shocked Kurenai and Anko, the two women had silent tears falling from their eyes. They weren't the only ones in the room crying either.

Hinata was crying into Kiba's shoulder, while Ino hugged Chouji tightly stubbornly blinking back her own tears. Shikamaru had his arms wrapped around Temari's shoulders while she leaned back into his embrace, fighting back her tears and failing to keep them at bay. Sakura didn't bother to try to stop herself from crying, instead, she willing buried her face into Lee's shoulder while he held her close, tears falling silently from his eyes as well. Tenten held Neji's hand tightly as her eyes glistened with unshed tears, the only reason that they weren't falling was the almost bone breaking grip she had on the Hyuuga's hand.

Neji, Shino, Sasuke, Gaara, and Kankuro stood still, their usually expressionless faces a mixture of emotions. Ranging from deep pain to barely contained rage for those that dared to harm Naruto. Tsunade almost smiled. Really, the quiet ones were always the ones to watch out for. They would be the ones that you would not want to meet in a dark alley, or even in a crowded street, after causing some kind of pain to Naruto. Oddly enough, Tsunade felt a little more at ease knowing that they would be going with Naruto on a nearly year long mission. But first, to make sure that they knew exactly what would happen to them if they did not do their best to protect her adopted little brother.

"You guys gave Naruto hope, if you betray him now he'll break. There is one thing I think some of you should know. He has the annoying habit of setting people up with others. He got Kakashi and Iruka together without them knowing. Hell, he got me together with Jiraiya without us having a clue. And I have a feeling that he set all of you guys up and has plans for everyone else who isn't together with someone."

This shocked everyone out of their sadness. Tsunade couldn't help but chuckle at their expressions. No wonder Naruto had spent nearly five minutes laughing when he saw her expression once she had found out the truth. It was just hilarious.

Naruto jerked awake when he heard laughter, but he slowly relaxed when he recognized it as Tsunade's.

"Baa-chan, can I add one more person to the team?"

"You're awake brat. Sorry, but I slipped and told them how you were behind most of them getting together."

At this Naruto sat up and twisted to stare at Tsunade in horror.

"But you promised not to say anything after I told you how I tricked you and Ero-sennin into getting together."

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that brat." Naruto ignored Jiraiya's angry shout. It was background noise to him now. Besides, he wouldn't stop calling him that until Jiraiya stopped calling him brat/gaki first.

"Who did you want to add to the team?"

"Can I get Haku, or is he still busy spying?"

"His cover was nearly blown so I think it's best if he would disappear for a little. Zabuza is still causing chaos everywhere he goes so no one's suspicious of him being a spy. The fact that he keeps a low profile actually works in his favor since he isn't suspicious in the least playing the whole 'I want to stay hidden cuz I'm suppose to be dead' and the 'I want to kill the bastard for thinking he killed me' act perfectly. It also doesn't raise any warning flags with him coming to Konoha all the time since he can say he's checking up on his enemies when he's really giving status reports. He's been acting a little odd lately though. Do you know why?"

Naruto gave her a grin that was worthy of the King of Mischief himself. She recognized that grin all too well.

"No way. You set him up with someone?"

Naruto's grin became even wider as he nodded. Tsunade felt her jaw drop in shock.

"Who? Tell me who and how you did it?"

Naruto began to laugh, falling out of her lap to roll on the floor clutching his sides as he laughed even harder. Finally, gasping for breath, he managed to speak.

"I wouldn't call them a couple just yet, but it looks promising. And there is no way I'm going to tell you how. As for who, you just saw him. I'll let you take a guess."

"Asuma?"

"Nope, he's going out with Kurenai. You should have seen the looks on their faces when I set them up on a blind date with each other. It was absolutely priceless. Nope, it's Ibiki."

_"Ibiki?!?"_

"Yep, I also have plans for Anko, but I'm not sure who would be the perfect match for her."

An evil grin spreading across his face, Naruto turned to look at the shocked faces of his friends. Since his 'secret' was already out, he might as well have fun.

"Don't worry, I have plans for you guys too. Gaara, Kankuro, Shino, and Sasuke, you're the only ones left that I haven't worked my magic on. You won't know what hit you."

Naruto burst out laughing again as looks of horror spread across the four boy's faces. This was exactly what he needed. He always felt better after pulling a prank, no matter what form it was.

Tsunade was still recovering from her shock. Really, Ibiki and Zabuza? She couldn't picture that, and she didn't want to picture that. A quick glance at Jiraiya told her all she needed to know. The pervert tried to picture the couple, and had succeeded given his current state.

Jiraiya was passed out on the floor, twitching violently.

"I'm sorry I tricked you guys, but it was so obvious that you belonged together. I mean, even an idiot could tell that most of you guys liked each other. But you have to admit, your happy together. Am I right?"

Tsunade sweat-dropped at this, as did almost everyone else. There was no way that it was obvious, except in Lee's case, but for all the others it wasn't. But Naruto was right, they were happy together, and now that they thought about it, they could pick out times that Naruto had tricked them in one way or another. It was just so Naruto that they could easily forgive him.

Sasuke recovered from his shock enough to ask a question. A very important question.

"What are you talking about Naruto, aren't Zabuza and Haku dead?"

"They aren't. I cast a genjutsu on you guys, including Kakashi-sensei, and fought both of them myself. The mist helped a lot though. Kakashi thinks that Fox had killed Zabuza and that the genjutsu I cast to make myself look like Zabuza and also made it look like I was being impaled by all those weapons when I killed Gato was to terrify his men. I also froze up on purpose when the Demon Brothers attacked." Sasuke stared in shock then quickly recovered, although Naruto was different, he was still the same in many ways.

"Jiraiya, wake up. I need you to go and get Haku for me."

Tsunade felt her eye twitch when Jiraiya stayed passed out on the floor. Really, and he called her a slacker when ever he caught her napping. She was just about to throw the closest paperweight at him when Naruto spoke up.

"Let me do it Baa-chan."

Naruto walked over to Jiraiya, performing his trade marked Kage Bushin. Six Narutos surrounded the unconscious man, then together, they performed Naruto's legendary Sexy no Jutsu. They dog piled the man and began to purr and coo phrases. Immediately his eyes snapped open, his nose nearly bursting as blood gushed out. A cloud of smoke appeared as the naked girls disappeared. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a laughing Naruto. Tsunade glared at Jiraiya, before she gave Naruto a half-amused, half-annoyed look.

Really, that jutsu of his was just useful enough that she couldn't bring herself to ban him from using it.

"I need you to bring Haku here immediately, do you understand?" Wiping the blood away, he nodded before he left through the window. Flashing a smirk at her before he completely vanished from sight.

"I thought I told you to use the DOOR!" Sighing, Tsunade sat back down, rubbing her temples.

"Naruto, do you remember your trip to London?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes thoughtful.

"It had something to do with reports of the snake-pervert talking with another snake-pervert. Does this mean we're going where I think we are?"

"If you're thinking Hogwarts, then yes."

"Why didn't you tell me? I know the old fart that runs the place. I met him a couple of times when I was younger. I think the last time I saw him was when I was six, I dyed his hair and beard purple while I dyed the Third's pink. It was so funny." Tsunade had to choke back laughter as she imagined Sarutobi with pink hair. Really, only Naruto would have the guts to prank a Hokage.

"I can't believe you would do that. I bet he tried to kill you." Naruto shook his head at her comment.

"Much worse I'm afraid. He dyed my hair green, _lime _green. It looked crazy, especially with orange. I think Dumbledore almost died laughing. My hair was green for a week. I think I have a picture of the three of us with our hair dyed. I'll show it to you if I find it. From what you told me earlier, I can guess what the mission is."

Tsunade grinned. Naruto undoubtedly could guess what the mission would entail.

"Alright, take a guess. If your right, it saves me the trouble of explaining it."

"Dumbledore wants to hire a group of ninjas to act as guards at his school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If the team looks young enough, he wants them to pretend to be students. He not only wants us to guard the school but one student in particular, a Harry Potter if I remember correctly what I learned on my mission earlier this year. An evil wizard, Voldemort, is trying to kill him. I think I remember hearing a rumor that he was resurrected at the beginning of the summer. Since he's back, Dumbledore wants us to protect the school from the inside. And since we will be posing as students, we will be learning their 'magic', which is simply another form of chakra. It is very similar to what we use, but the chakra is focused and molded with a wand. They don't have to do anything themselves because the wand does it for them. If we learned their form of chakra manipulation, we would be stronger for it. It could also come in handy for various missions. The only downside to it is we have to learn four years worth of spells, history, and potions in order to pose as students. Am I right?"

"You got it. Like Naruto said, you will be going to Hogwarts and posing as foreign exchange students or transfer students. I would like you to keep the fact that you are Shinobi a secret, but if you can't then only tell the people you must. Now, be packed and back here in the next thirty minutes."

Everyone left to do as they were told but Naruto and the Sand siblings.

"Naruto, if Haku isn't here then I'll send him to you later in the year. Please promise me you'll stay out of trouble." Naruto gave Tsunade a small grin, his blue eyes looking like those of an ancient man.

"If I didn't stay out of trouble, then I wouldn't be alive today. I won't fail you, and I'll die before I let anything happen to my team. Do you think Orochamiru is joining forces with Voldemort? I thought I killed him when I brought Sasuke back?"

"I don't know everything, but he is most certainly alive. The bastard probably kept himself alive just to annoy us. On this mission, I want you to gather as much information on the enemy as you can. Don't do anything that's too dangerous or that will attract attention. I'll send you help later on in the year." Nodding, Naruto sat down in a chair in front of her desk.

Now fifteen, Naruto had grown. He had lost all of his baby fat, leaving a very toned body. Whether it was due to lack of nutrition or genetics, he wasn't as tall as his peers and he had a slim and lithe build. Tsunade couldn't help but grin, the blonde brat was only 5'5, a good two or three inches shorter than she was. Even Gaara was taller by about four or five inches and he had a slightly larger build then Naruto but he was still slim and seem to have a feminine air about him.

Although Naruto could definitely pass for a girl, even without using a henge. He was very sensitive about his appearance and didn't take kindly to anyone who questioned his masculinity. More than a few people had ended up in the hospital when they chose to make fun of him.

Naruto curled himself up into a ball, hugging his knees to his chest as he rested his forehead against them. Now that they knew the truth, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his heart making him feel lighter than he had ever felt. Slowly, his eyes drifted shut and he fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

Gaara stared at Naruto, his sand swirling around his feet as he tried to quell the anger he felt on the blonde's behalf. Sure, people had tried to kill him but he had been able to protect himself. Even when he wasn't able to protect himself, his sand did. This kept people from touching him, let alone hurting him physically. But Naruto had been raped, not just once but several times and on his birthday too. If the rape didn't cause psychological trauma, then it being done on his birthday would. Naruto even had to pretend to be something he wasn't.

Suddenly, the sleeping blonde began to shake, whimpering as he was assaulted by some unseen force. Gaara rushed to his side when he heard his friend speaking in a broken voice.

"Please, I'll do anything. Just don't hurt me. No..."

Kneeling in front of the blonde, he tried to shake him awake but got no response. Not knowing what to do, he pulled Naruto into his lap and hugged him tightly, gently rocking him back and forth. Naruto soon stopped whimpering as his shaking slowed until it disappeared completely. Gaara nearly jumped when he felt the blonde relax in his embrace.

Glancing up, he saw the shocked faces of his brother and sister. Taking a look over his shoulder, he saw the Hokage staring at him with wide eyes her mouth hanging wide open. Glaring, he managed to growl out a single word.

"What?"

Before anyone could answer however, Naruto slowly opened his blue eyes. Blinking, he stared up at Gaara for a moment before he smiled sleepily and turned over in his lap so he could hug the boy back. He fell asleep almost instantly, a smile still on his lips. Gaara could feel his cheeks burn as he blushed, but he willed it away with only slight difficulty.

Ten minutes later, everyone had returned, Jiraiya dragging Haku behind him. When they saw Gaara sitting on the floor with Naruto in his lap, a single thought ran through their minds.

_'The world's going to end.' _

Sasuke and Sakura were slightly surprised when they saw Haku. Hearing that the boy was still alive and actually seeing him was two different things. He looked even more feminine then he did when they first met. He was taller than Naruto, but shorter then everyone else since with the exception of Naruto and Gaara, all the other boys were at least six feet tall if not a few inches over. He was actually the same height as Gaara.

"Good, now that everyone is here I'll tell you how you will be traveling. In two minutes you will all touch this piece of rope. It's a portkey that should take you to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. This is a secret organization that is fighting against Voldemort and protecting Harry Potter. You will have to learn English if you don't already know it. Does anyone not know how to speak the language?" When no one raised their hand, Tsunade gave a nod.

"Good, then that's one less problem to worry about. You will have to learn four years worth of magic in order to pass as students, that is why you are going a month early. Send a status report every week. Use a summon animal to send it, as for team leader, Naruto will be it. Quick, grab your luggage and touch the rope with at least a finger, we only have thirty seconds left." As if hearing what she had said, Naruto woke up and grabbed his backpack. He gave Tsunade a quick hug before he grabbed his mask and grabbed the end of the rope.

Everyone else soon grabbed a piece of the four foot long rope as Tsunade began to count down. Giving one last warning seconds before the portkey would activate.

"Be good, three, two, one."

Everyone felt like a hook had been attached to their navel and was pulling them backwards as they spun around. After a minute that seemed to last for an eternity, they stopped, staggering a little as they hit the ground.

Naruto felt his knees buckle as pain seared through him, focused around the Kyuubi's seal. Gaara caught him before he could hit the ground. Naruto pressed his head into Gaara's chest as he waited for the pain to recede, teeth almost biting through his lip. Slowly, it faded, leaving his body feeling bruised and battered all over.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto forced himself to stand up straight. He gave Gaara a small smile and hug before he turned to take in his surroundings.

They were in a dimly lit kitchen that looked like it was being used for the first time in years. At a long table in the middle with benches, two men sat having a quiet conversation. Naruto didn't recognize either one. They were staring at them, and it was starting to get uncomfortable considering one of them had an electric blue eye that swiveled in its socket.

"Is Dumbledore here?"

When they didn't answer, Naruto sighed and scratched his head. This was just perfect.

"Great, the old man isn't here and we're stuck with a paranoid geezer and a werewolf. Why did I even agree to this?"

Naruto clapped a hand over his mouth as he realized he had just called the man a werewolf to his face. The man with the blue eye finally growled at him.

"How did you know that Lupin was a werewolf?" Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He hadn't meant to give away that he was more than he seemed. He really was off balance.

"I could sense it. Now, can you tell me were Dumbledore is? Oh, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"You can call me Mad-Eye Moody. As for Dumbledore, he isn't here. He's attending a hearing at the Ministry of Magic. Now, why are you here?"

"I can only tell you that we are transfer students. Do you have any Floo Powder?" This time, Lupin spoke up, answering his question.

"In the flower pot above the fire place, why?"

Naruto flashed him his fox grin before he walked over a grabbed a pinch of the glittering powder.

"Sasuke, Gaara, don't kill anyone. Sakura-chan, you're in charge until I get back. Don't answer any questions until I get back. I have a bone to pick with the old man."

Before anyone could stop him, he threw the powder into the fireplace, shouting the Ministry of Magic before he stepped into the flames and disappeared.

They stared at the fireplace for a while before Lupin spoke.

"Moody, shouldn't we go after him? He's bound to get into trouble if he barges in while they're having the hearing."

Moody just growled his annoyance as he shook his head. It would just cause more trouble that they didn't need if they went after the blonde now.

The group of ninja stared at the two wizards in silence, who stared back in response. Time wouldn't pass quickly enough as they waited silently for Naruto to return, hopefully with Dumbledore in tow.

The next hour would feel like an eternity.

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A/N: Thank you for reading, and reviews are always loved no matter how short or long. All of them make me smile, although the longer ones make me smile more. Anyway, thanks for reading, cookies to my readers and brownies for all my reviewers. Look forward to chapters four and five next Wednesday.


	4. Dementors, Trials, and Mr Cuddles!

Disclaimer: I do not own.  
Warnings: OOC, AU, language, slash/boyxboy/yaoi, etc. Mention of rape in this chapter as well.

A/N: I had hoped to get five up as well, but it is taking me longer than planned to revise it. It will however be up before I post six next Wednesday. This chapter is also rather different from what I first posted. Hope that you enjoy the changes. If you're confused about anything, just leave it in a review or send me a message and I will do my best to clarify it. In any case, enjoy this chapter. I still don't have a poll up just yet, but I'll have one up in my profile sometime in the next two weeks.

(Re)Posted: 11 November 2009  
Word Count: 9,851

Story Stats Chapter 1-3:  
Reviews: 8  
Hits: 508  
C2s: 1  
Favs: 4  
Alerts: 10

Key:  
_"Ohayou."_ - Another language, in most cases, Japanese, unless otherwise specified.

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**Chapter Four: Dementors, Trials, and Mr. Cuddles!?!**

Naruto stumbled out of the fireplace at the Ministry of Magic. His once orange outfit was now pitch black, but he didn't really care too much. It was simple enough to wash the soot away later on, and he wouldn't draw nearly as many stares now.

Focusing, he quickly searched for Dumbledore's chakra. It may have been years since he had seen the man, but he clearly remembered the feel of the old coot's power. It actually reminded him of Dumbledore, clearly old and powerful, but there was a playfulness to it as well as a generally grandfatherly feel that was recognizable but not describable.

He growled as he picked up a faint trace coming from way below him. He may not know if the Ministry was the same, but generally speaking, the lower you went, the more serious, and stealing Shikamaru's phrase, troublesome the floor was. It certainly held true in Konoha at least.

There were only three real reasons to go underground in Konoha. The first was to use the underground tunnels to get to safety during an emergency. The other two reasons weren't as widely known. There were archives of Konoha's history beneath the Hokage tower, a rather closely guarded secret. The clans also had their own underground archives, but that was something everyone knew about, even if they didn't know the exact location. The other reason someone would be underground was if they were visiting Ibiki in T&I, either to deliver information, retrieve information, or as a guest. No one wanted to be a guest of T&I, especially if Anko was hanging around that day.

Shaking his head, Naruto quickly passed through security, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes when the guard believed that he was there to report the theft of his wand. The man hadn't even raised an eyebrow at the numerous kunai and shuriken he had on his person, not to mention the exploding notes and a handful of other 'toys'.

If it was this simple to get pass security in the Ministry of Magic, he couldn't blame Dumbledore for seeking outside help to guard his school and students. An Academy student would have been able to infiltrate the building, assassinate the Minister, and get out undetected before anyone probably knew that the man was dead.

Stalking to an elevator, he completely ignored everyone around him. Instead, he tried to pass the time by thinking of various ways he could suggest the need for improved security. After considering taking Academy students on a field trip to prank the entire Ministry as an example of how not to set up security, he grew bored with the idea and began to bounce nervously. His mind was still spinning from the fact that none of his friends hated him, which did not help his nerves in the slightest.

Which probably explained his dwindling patience and growing irritation. His impatience only grew further as the elevator stopped at each and every single floor. By the time they reached the ninth floor, he was ready to explode. At least he was the only one left on the elevator when it finally came to a stop.

Forcing himself to walk calmly down the corridor, he didn't stop until he reached a door with a slightly balding man with flaming red hair standing next to it. He would have actually walked right by the man if he hadn't felt a flare of familiar power.

It was here, just behind these doors.

He kicked them open violently and stomped into the room. He was annoyed, and he was going to make sure that everyone knew he was. It didn't matter that he would probably get the lecture of all lectures from Tsunade, he needed to blow off some steam before he completely went insane with his whirling thoughts.

He needed time to think and process, not to spend an hour or so hunting down the old fart that had hired them. Mentally shaking himself, Naruto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He was really off kilter if he was losing control of his emotions so quickly and easily.

Maybe he should ask Dumbledore for one of his lemon drops. He was positive that the man spiked them with something since he had actually sat still for nearly ten minutes while munching on a small bag of them. Given that he was six at the time, Naruto was fairly sure that the Sandaime considered the event to be a minor miracle.

Dumbledore looked up slightly surprised as he saw the blonde storm in, a slacked jawed Mr. Weasley staring after him. His surprise quickly turned to a thoughtful look as he studied the young blonde. There was something familiar about him, but Dumbledore couldn't for the life of him figure out why the teenager seemed so familiar. Any chance to ponder on it would have to wait until after the trial was concluded. He really couldn't let Harry get expelled for merely defending himself. Something that he shouldn't have had to do in the first place if the dementors hadn't shown up. And if Mundungus had stayed guard. Slightly shaking his head, Dumbledore focused his attention on Fudge. There was no use regretting what was already done and over.

Upon his abrupt entry, Fudge had stopped shouting for a minute before he quickly regained his composure. This time when he began to shout, his attention was focused on the blonde teenager that had dared to storm in uninvited.

"Who do you think you are? You can't just barge in here like you own the place. Leave this instance before I have a pair of dementors escort you out and into a holding cell."

Naruto's face went death white at the mention of the dementors. All thoughts of asking Dumbledore for some lemon drops flew out of his mind as he turned slitted scarlet eyes on Fudge. A smirk that was more snarl than smile tugged at his lips as the man flinched under his piercing gaze.

"Are you the man in charge here?" Given how offended and arrogant the man was, Naruto was fairly sure he was looking at someone at the top of the political pyramid. If not the Minister himself. Which would explain the pathetic security, if not how the clearly incompetent man got his position in the first place.

"Of course he is, now leave. You are interrupting a very important trial." Naruto didn't even need to look at the red head with horned rimmed glasses to know that he was a boot licker. Really, just the tone of voice alone was more than enough to tell him that the young man was a major suck up. He would have completely ignored the man if he hadn't opened his mouth to speak again.

Naruto silenced him with a glare, one that was actually a combination of Uchiha Glare #5 and Gaara's Agonizing Death Glare #2. Naruto was rather impressed that the man didn't wet himself. After all, Naruto had used the glare on battle-hardened shinobi before and had on more than one occasion been nearly overwhelmed with the stench of urine.

Turning his attention back on the pompous man that had demanded him to leave, Naruto softened his glare to the one he usually gave when he was annoyed, but not quite homicidal. It did the trick though as the man seemed petrified in his seat.

"If you're in charge then that means you can answer my question. Why the hell were there dementors in a muggle neighborhood? I'm minding my own fucking business and out of nowhere, two of them appear running from some silver stag before the stag disappeared. I could understand it if you had sent them to catch a Death Eater or something, but the only fucking wizard I even sensed within twenty miles of the area is that boy there. Now, can you please answer this simple question for me. What the fuck were you thinking?"

Eyes narrowed, Naruto waited for an answer. He couldn't show his irritation through leaked killer intent, so he settled for using the f-word a few times. He'd just have to make sure that Iruka-sensei never found out, otherwise his ears would be ringing for several hours with the lecture he would get. He may be constantly nagged to be more respectful, but Naruto had learned quickly that having a foul mouth near Iruka-sensei was asking for the permanent taste of soap to remain in his mouth at all times. Not even ramen was able to get the taste out.

He was lucky enough to be able to get away with mild swearing, but considering how every fifth word out of his mouth wasn't a swear of some kind when he had first met Iruka-sensei, it was a vast improvement.

Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't have stopped the reaction even if he tried. This boy had seen the dementors. And not only that, he had seen Harry's Patronus. He was clearly magical, especially since he had been able to sense that the only other wizard in the area was Harry. His testimony would carry much more weight for the mere fact that he was clearly a wizard. If this whiskered teenager could convince enough of those present that he had indeed seen both Harry's Patronus and the dementors, he may not need to do some very smooth talking. Which he wouldn't have been present to do if he hadn't arrived three hours early at the Ministry in order to register the sixteen new transfer students that Hogwarts would be hosting for the next year.

Fudge remained frozen in fear for all of a minute before he bolstered his courage with his arrogance as he sneered down at Naruto, speaking in the most condescending tone the blonde had ever heard used. "You must be mistaken, for no dementors have been sent out in the past two months, much less into muggle neighborhoods. Now, will you please leave quietly or would you like a pair of dementors to escort you to a cell?"

Naruto snarled at the man, his eyes flashing with barely restrained rage before they calmed as an evil smirk spread across his face. The scarlet bleeding away to be replaced by his normal blue, his pupils took but a few seconds to become round once more as his eyes fully returned to normal. Drawing a kunai, he sliced a shallow cut into his palm, just enough for it bleed before hiding the blade back where it came from and forming a series of hand seals. A blur of motion later and he was pressing his hand to the floor, a cloud of smoke appearing as he summoned a blood red fox with three tails.

"What do you want Naru-cub?" Naruto smiled at the fox's nickname for him. All of the foxes had nicknames for him, but only Kyuubi was allowed to refer to him as Kit. It didn't mean though that she was the only fox that had adopted him as her own. All of the foxes had adopted him in some fashion or another, not that Naruto really minded all that much. Even if he did, there was nothing he could do to stop them.

"Please deliver this message to Tsuande. Unless you wish to deal with a war with the wizarding world, get your ass over here before I go on a killing spree. Tell her she has two minutes to get here. Bring her here directly, okay Ruby?"

The fox smiled, teeth glittering in the flickering light before disappearing with a small pop and a cloud of smoke. She wasn't even gone for more than a minute, the smoke having just barely cleared from her departure, when she reappeared with a very angry Godaime.

"I thought you said you would stay out of trouble. Going on a killing spree and causing a world war is not keeping out of trouble."

Naruto stopped her angry rant as he allowed a few tears to slide down his cheeks, unable to keep them back any longer. Damn, his moods were changing faster than he could keep up with, and that only made him want to start bawling all the more. He now had an even greater respect for the pregnant woman if this was what she had to deal with.

Seeing Naruto's tears, Tsunade forgot about lecturing the blonde as she scanned him for any injuries. All anger flew from her mind as she rushed over and embraced him, discretely scanning him with her chakra to make sure that he wasn't physically injured.

"Talk. Now."

Naruto nodded his head before he hid his face completely in her chest. So much for not telling her about his run in with dementors. At least he could do some damage control. Tsuande already knew about how he had used a 'borrowed' timeturner so that his absence wouldn't be missed at the village. Given that the event he had witnessed was technically two weeks ago, Naruto needed to be very careful in how he worded his explanation.

Time travel was not something to mess around with, something that the Kyuubi had constantly reminded him of for the duration of his mission. Naruto had come to the decision that the headache just wasn't worth it, no matter how tempting.

"Remember my trip to investigate an odd barrier that was found? Well, I didn't tell you that I ran into a couple of dementors the night before I returned. I was able to apparate back to my hotel room before their presence took effect. I remembered things I didn't want to remember. I was forced to relive my fifth birthday. The guy in charge says that the dementors must have been a figment of my imagination since he hadn't sent them. Then he threatened to have a pair escort me out for interrupting a _trial_, but it's more like the kid has to sit and listen to the bastard call him a liar and then punish him for telling the truth and doing some magic that saved his life."

At this, Fudge exploded. Maybe Naruto shouldn't have added that last comment. It could be entirely false, but any doubts he had were removed with what Fudge shouted down at him.

"How dare you doubt me! When I said that there is no possible chance that a dementor was sent out, then it's true. And what the bloody hell did you do? Where did that fox come from and how the bloody hell did it apparate through our wards, not to mention the woman-"

Feeling Tsunade hold him tighter, Naruto could tell that she had had enough.

"Don't you dare say another word or I will be more than willing to declare war on you. I didn't know that you wizards were so disrespectful that you would yell at the Hokage of Fire Country."

Fudge completely disregard everything she said as he ignored her and continued yelling.

"What are you talking about? A Hokage? And there is no such place as Fire Country." Tsunade cut him off before the man could dig himself an even deeper grave, not that it wasn't already deep enough.

"You must be incompetent at your job Cornelius Fudge, because if you had done your job properly, then you would be familiar with the Treaty of Ignorance that my grandfather had signed when he founded Konoha. Since you are obviously incompetent, I will give you the the condensed version. Only the leaders of the various Magical Governments, such as the Minister of Magic, would know of the existence of the Elemental Continent. A continent which is hidden from the entire world, much like Hogwarts with the exception that ships and planes are transported to the other side of our wards if they try to sail or fly through them. It was agreed that if you left us alone, we would leave you alone. It did not mean that interaction was prohibited. Since the majority of the Wizarding world does not know of our existence, and the Muggle world is entirely unaware of our presence, we have had few visitors. The same applies for the Elemental Continent. Now, please explain to me why you, as a leader, did not know of my country's existence until I told you? Are you not suppose to know all treaties that have been signed by those that preceded you?"

Fudge went very pale at this. Apparently he had heard of Konoha. And was smart enough to realize that risking a war would mean not only a humiliating defeat, but most likely the revelation of magic to the entire world.

"Please forgive me Tsunade-hime, I had completely forgotten. Mr. Potter, since there is a witness that corroborates what you have said, you will be pardoned. But do not think that you will be pardoned again if you use magic before you are of age for anything other than a life threatening situation. This trial is over."

Sitting up even straighter, Fudge turned his attention onto Tsunade, a somewhat strained smile twisting his lips as he spoke. "Tsunade-hime, would you like to join me for a cup of tea. I'm sure there is much we should talk about."

Tsunade hid a smirk as she bent down and planted a kiss on Naruto's cheek. Really, Naruto was bound to give her a heart attack. Ruby's sudden appearance in her office was not something that she had been expecting. The message had her ready to send Naruto through at least two walls if she found out it was a joke, even though she sincerely hoped that it was. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, depending on how much sake she had when she looked back on the event, Naruto's message had been at least partially serious.

Giving Naruto one final hug, she whispered quietly into his ear so that only he heard what she said. Regardless of what had set him off, Tsunade was happy that he had sent for her, silently asking for her help. "Don't worry, I'll make the bastard squirm for you. Thanks for getting me out of doing paperwork for the afternoon Gaki. Now be good and don't start any wars with other countries. You can cause chaos at school as long as you don't use any jutsus in front of the students unless absolutely necessary for the mission. Have fun. And Naruto, do yourself a favor and be selfish for once. You deserve to be loved. I know you like Sasuke, and I have a feeling its mutual. Tell him, see where it goes from there."

Pulling away Tsunade gave him an amused smile before ruffling his hair. "I'll see you later. Don't forget, send your reports every week with a summon. I want to know how you're doing. And don't you dare leave out any injuries, no matter how minor, otherwise I will be chaining you to a hospital bed the next time I treat you. I'll also make sure that you don't get any ramen for the duration of your stay."

Seeing Naruto gulp and frantically nod his head, Tsunade allowed herself a satisfied smirk. She would know too if Naruto didn't mention even the smallest paper cut he may have gotten in his reports. However, he didn't need to know that. After all, it would completely ruin the surprise, and give away the fact that she was more worried about him than he ever needed to know.

Harry couldn't believe what he had witnessed. Just as he was beginning to despair that he would never go back to Hogwarts again, a blonde boy who couldn't be any older than he was, bursts into the courtroom. Harry had barely managed to close his jaw when the whiskered teenager started snarling at Fudge. He was positive that his heart had skipped a beat when the smaller teen demanded to know why he had seen dementors running away from a _silver stag_in a muggle neighborhood. The teen had seen the dementors as well as his Patronus.

If that wasn't enough to give him hope that he wouldn't be expelled, something even more shocking happened. Barely seeing a glint of a blade, Harry just made out the blur of motion as being the blonde's hands before one was slammed onto the ground, a cloud of smoke immediately appearing. Once it cleared, Harry stared at one of the oddest sights he had ever seen. A scarlet fox that was clearly magical if its three tails were anything to go by. If that wasn't a big enough clue, the fact that the fox was the same size as Padfoot was.

Plus the fact that the fox could speak. Something that Harry was gaping at long enough to miss most of what the blonde had said. All that he managed to catch was that the fox, Ruby, would bring someone directly to the court room. And within moments of the smoke clearing, there was another pop and an even larger cloud of smoke that revealed an extremely angry blonde woman. She also had the largest breasts he had ever seen on a woman. And wasted no time in starting to lecture the blonde, only to pull the boy into a hug before she could truly begin to rant at him.

Then things had went from unbelievable to just plain surreal. Whatever the other teenager had said to the woman, Fudge had heard it, causing the man to explode in anger, screaming about how no dementors were in Surrey because he said that there weren't any. Fudge did have a point though in asking how the woman had gotten through the wards around the Ministry and into the court room. He would have to ask Hermione about it, not to mention asking if she knew anything about an apparently hidden continent and a treaty about secrecy. The woman was clearly someone important given how quickly Fudge's attitude had changed from being angry to apologetic.

The true icing on the cake though was when Fudge had warned him against using magic outside of school again until he was of age or the situation required it, and then he was free to leave, no longer facing being expelled from the one place he considered home.

Still rather shell-shocked, he didn't start grinning until Mr. Weasley asked him if he had been cleared. The fact that he had been tried by the full court was enough to make him feel giddy at just how close he had come to being expelled. If it wasn't for the sudden appearance of the blonde, Harry wasn't sure if Dumbledore would have been able to get him out of this mess. He really was lucky.

Before anything else could really be said, Dumbledore exited the court room, looking just as startled by the outcome as he was, but he was smiling none the less, blue eyes twinkling more than usual. Realizing that no one else was leaving the court room just yet, Harry decided now was the time to ask any questions before the headmaster disappeared.

"What just happened?"

Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling brightly enough to be seen in the dark. "I do not really know Harry, but he appeared at exactly the right moment. And just who might you be young man?"

The blonde boy had followed them out of the courtroom. He looked hurt for a moment at the headmaster's question before he flashed them a smile. Harry wondered why he would be hurt, it was clear that neither of them knew him, nor did Mr. Weasley.

"You really did look better with purple hair old man. I could dye it for you again, but I think I'll do it orange this time."

Harry had no clue what the boy was talking about, neither did Mr. Weasley, but apparently Dumbledore did.

Eyes widening momentarily, Dumbledore smiled widely. That was the final clue he needed to place just why the blonde's presence had been nagging at him. The whiskers should have been enough of a reminder of a particularly mischievous six year old he had the pleasure of meeting some odd years ago. The child was truly delightful and had kept him on his toes.

"I daresay that green really did suit you. Especially that shade of lime."

Naruto chuckled as he cracked a genuine smile that reached his eyes, lighting his whole face up and making him look years younger. Harry was really confused at this point. Since he doubted that he would be getting any answers anytime soon, he decided to quickly change the topic.

"Was that lady your mother?" Harry was surprised when the blonde stopped smiling and a look of sadness spread across his face, darkening his eyes until they were almost black.

"No, she's the leader of my village." Although the words were spoken softly, he could hear a note of steel in them. Harry took that as his cue to shut up. It didn't stop him from noticing the headmaster's reaction though.

Dumbledore bowed his head in sadness. If he didn't have to worry about Voldemort, he would have gone straight to Konoha in order to pay his respects. That would have to wait though, until after Voldemort was dealt with.

"I need to visit your village in the future to pay my respects. Naruto-kun, do you mind telling me how he died. Your Hokage only said that he was killed during battle." Naruto nodded solemnly, silently confirming the truth of Tsunade's statement.

"I'll tell you later. That's if Baa-chan doesn't tell you first. I think Tsunade-baa-chan didn't want to tell you how he died in a letter because she wanted to tell you in person since you were an old friend of Sandaime-jiji. We should hurry back. The transfer students are waiting and I have the feeling that you failed to mention our arrival since we were greeted by a paranoid lunatic and a werewolf. I told everyone to stay silent until I came back with you."

"Ah, you will have to go ahead of me. I need to finish some paperwork here. It will take me but a few minutes."

At that moment, the others left the courtroom, Tsunade ignoring Fudge as soon as she saw that Dumbledore was still present. "Ah, I was hoping to catch you before you left Headmaster. I wanted to ask a few questions about how my students will be treated in your care."

"Tsunade-hime, if you would follow me..." Trailing off, Fudge just kept himself from quivering under the molten glare Tsunade shot at him.

"I'm sure that Headmaster Dumbledore will be kind enough to show me to your office once we finish discussing how my students will be treated. We wouldn't want any misunderstandings like today to happen again, would we?"

Gulping at the threat hidden in the sugary sweet voice, Fudge quickly nodded. As much as he hated Dumbledore, he knew the man would never allow the Hokage to believe her students would suffer unfair treatment while he was Headmaster. He also couldn't afford to anger the Godaime any more than she already was. Unable to take his anger out on Dumbledore, his eyes lit up when he caught sight of Arthur Weasley. He just knew the man supported Dumbledore, but he had no evidence to safely take action against him, not with how well liked he was in the Ministry. That didn't mean he couldn't make the man's life miserable.

"Weasley, what are you doing down here?" Just as the man began to sweat, Tsunade suddenly shifted her attention to the man.

"Arthur Weasley?"

"Yes?"

"Ah, I want to thank you and your wife for agreeing to foster my students until school started. I hope that your children don't mind staying in the home that I had provided. It was rather unavoidable though since the sixteen of them insisted on staying together."

"It was no problem, honestly." Only having a vague idea of what she was talking about, Mr. Weasley decided it would be safer to just play along.

"Still, sixteen teenagers, plus your own children is a bit much to deal with."

"Ah, do not forget young Mr. Potter here, as well as his friend Ms. Granger." At Dumbledore's words, Mr. Weasley blushed even as Tsuande's smile widened. Maybe he shouldn't have played along.

"Twenty-two teenagers. I must insist on sending you and your wife on an all expense paid vacation once they all head off to Hogwarts. I'm sure that Cornelius will be more than happy to give you the time off, with pay."  
"Of course Tsunade-hime. We can discuss the details in my office over tea."

"Yes, we can. I'll have Headmaster Dumbledore escort me to your office once I'm sure of the safety and fair treatment of my students."

"I would be delighted Tsunade-hime."

"Be good for Mr. Weasley Naruto-kun."

"I will Baa-chan." Ruffling blonde spikes, Tsunade barely kept from cackling as she took Dumbledore's offered arm, allowing the older man to escort her to the elevators. Fudge was fuming, but Tsunade didn't plan on ending the torture just yet. Looking over her shoulder, she tossed a comment at Fudge, making sure he didn't stick around and bother Naruto.

"I'll see you in your office Minister. We have much to discuss."

Watching Fudge disappear down the hall with Dumbledore and Tsunade, Harry was utterly confused. What did she mean when she said that the Weasleys were taking care of sixteen extra teenagers, as well as needing to change houses. The Weasleys were staying at his godfather's home just like he and Hermione were. She wasn't making any sense.

"Mr. Weasley, what was she talking about?"

"Ah, well you see Harry, Dumbledore mentioned to me and Molly that we would possibly be taking care of a few transfer students this summer, but I hadn't expected there to be that many."

"Then why did she say that she had provided a house for you? It doesn't make any sense." Not unless they would be staying at the Order's headquarters with them. And even then, why did she lie about providing a house? It was Sirius's home that they were using.

"Isn't it obvious? Sheesh, Baa-chan was making sure that Fudge couldn't question Weasley-san on how he was capable of caring for all sixteen transfer students. I don't know how big his home is, but sixteen teenagers obviously can't live in an average home."

Jumping slightly, Harry turned to stare at the blonde. He had forgotten that the other boy was there. But as he fully processed what he said, he couldn't help but bristle. So what if the Weasleys' weren't rich, they were a far better family than the Malfoys.

"We really should get going Weasley-san. I'm sure that you'll want to tell your wife that you'll be going on a vacation soon. Baa-chan wasn't lying when she said that she would send you and your wife on an all expense paid vacation. I'll bet it won't only be for this year only either. She'll probably arrange for at least five over the next few years or so." A vacation for each team, minus Haku, but she would probably think of something. Especially since they were technically under the guardianship of the Weasleys during their stay. Something made clear to him by the fact that she had brought it up to Fudge.

"Yes, we should get going. I'm sure the others will want to know how your trial ended Harry." Reminded that he had gotten off, Harry's earlier excitement returned as he grinned widely. He had gotten off.

Trailing behind the two, Naruto was thankful that neither male had decided to ask some rather sensitive questions. This was not the place to answer them, especially with Fudge just around the corner, talking to someone that had Kyuubi growling in his mind. A clear sign to be wary of them.

"Well, well, well...Patronus Potter. The Minister was just telling me of your lucky escape, Potter." Hairs standing up on the back of his neck, Naruto was instantly on guard, keeping just out of sight of the man behind Mr. Weasley. The pale blonde seemed even more arrogant than some of the Lords that Naruto had met over the years, if that was even possible. But unlike the arrogant and spoiled men he had dealt with, this man held an air of danger to him. He was not to be underestimated, nor were assumptions to be made. He was far too dangerous for that.

"And Arthur Weasley too! What are you doing here, Arthur?"

"I work here." Given the little he had seen of the man, the short answer was a clear sign of tightly controlled anger.

"Not _here_, surely? I thought you were up on the second floor...Don't you do something that involves sneaking Muggle artifacts home and bewitching them?" Blue eyes flashing, Naruto knew he would have to step in soon. Fudge was looking far too smug, as if waiting for either Harry or Mr. Weasley to step out of line.

"No." Mr. Weasley was close to losing his temper, but the man was keeping himself in check. Maybe he wouldn't need to interfere.

"What are _you_doing here anyway?" Scratch that, he was going to have to interfere. Really, he had just escaped being expelled and here he was picking a fight with a man that clearly had the Minister's favor. Hearing the distinct rattle of gold as the man smoothed his robes, Naruto knew exactly why he had the Minister's favor.

"Shall we go up to your office, then, Minister?"

"Certainly. This way, Lucius." Eyes narrowed, Naruto stepped forward, drawing both men's attention to himself.

"Baa-chan doesn't like being made to wait, especially over something so trivial as donations being made that your secretary can take care of. Unless of course, this is a donation only you can accept Minister. Baa-chan especially hates being made to wait over such donations." Keeping his expression mild, as if he was entirely bored, Naruto kept his eyes focused on Fudge. The Minister was struggling with his anger, but at least the man was smart enough to catch what he was implying. He wasn't the only one. Lucius was glaring darkly at him, not that Naruto particularly cared.

"Come Lucius, I'll introduce you to Tsunade-hime."

"Be careful Minister, you don't want to anger Baa-chan further by breaking a treaty she needed to remind you of."

"Ah, Lucius, we'll take care of this another day. If you'll follow me, you can discuss a time that would be convenient for you with my secretary." Smiling serenely, Naruto watched the two disappear inside the elevator. It was vastly amusing to see the man scowling at him just before the doors closed. Once they were closed though, Harry exploded. That was something that he would have to work on. At the moment though, he was content to let Mr. Weasley handle it. The man knew more about the situation as well as what could and couldn't be safely said in public.

The rest of the way back to the Atrium and fireplaces passed in relative silence. Mr. Weasley would only make sure that they went through the floo safely, he did have to get back to work after all.

Naruto was rather amused when he saw Harry dump an entire bag of gold coins into a fountain just before they reached the fireplaces, grinning rather broadly once he was done. And his friends called him strange.

Sasuke was fuming. He had found Naruto in Gaara's lap in Tsunade's office and then the blonde had given the red head a hug when they arrived. Only he should be allowed to hug the blonde. Unfortunately for him, the dobe wasn't his, and Sasuke was beginning to doubt that he ever would be. Of course, that didn't mean he would give up. Uchihas were stubborn, _possessive_, bastards. And Sasuke was most certainly an Uchiha.

Gaara had better be prepared for war. He would not give Naruto up without a fight.

It had been almost an hour since Naruto left and he was beginning to get annoyed with having to stay in the same room with his new found love rival. It didn't help that Haku kept staring at him with a worried expression written all over his face.

Just before he could snap, an old man with long silver hair and a beard of the same color that was long enough to tuck into his belt stepped out of the fire place gracefully, dusting off his purple robes. Sparkling blue eyes twinkled from behind a pair of half moon spectacles that were perched on a crooked nose that look like it had been broken before.

"Ah, it seems that I am the first to return." Just as the man finished speaking, a red headed woman entered the kitchen, giving a soft gasp as she caught sight of them. Her gasp was soon echoed by five other teenagers crowded in the door behind her.

"Oh, Professor, do you have any news?" The man just smiled at the worried woman. Any answer he may have given was prevented as the fireplace once more flared green. This time Naruto fell out, quickly followed by a boy their age with spiky black hair, shocking green eyes similar to Sakura's, round glasses, and a thin lightning shaped scar slightly hidden behind his bangs.

"Why do you not ask him for yourselves?"

The man that Naruto had called a werewolf quickly stood and rushed over to the bespeckled boy. The others quickly gathering around him as well, whooping and shouting when the teen finally spoke, three of them starting up a chant.

Naruto gave a tired grin to his team before walking over to his backpack and digging through it. He pulled out a scroll and handed it to the old man who read it carefully, looking up at Naruto as soon as he finished. Naruto answered the silent question in their native tongue.

_"As you can see, Tsunade sent sixteen, including myself. We're all fifteen or sixteen, but we are some of the best and we have the added advantage of being underestimated because we are children. We will need to get wands if we are going to learn anything in this next month. I would like it if none of the teachers besides yourself knows what we are. I will assume that you will have some of your teachers catch us up in our studies. Tell them that we were not invited to Hogwarts because our magic was not detected until this summer due to the protective barrier around our village. Which is true in a way. Do not provide any special privileges to us. We will patrol the castle at night in shifts, if we get caught, which is highly improbable, then we will face whatever punishment is dealt to us. However, I do request that there be a room in which we will be allowed to train in. Also, it would be appreciated if you could stress to Harry and his friends that the Weasleys are our host family as far as the rest of the school is concern." _

Dumbledore nodded. The request was reasonable and made it easier for Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children to talk about what they did over the summer, so long as they made it clear that they couldn't reveal the exact location they were at because of safety reasons. Naruto gave him a mischievous grin, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"Just because I'm older doesn't mean I've matured any. I'll warn you in advance, what I did to your hair when I was six will look innocent compared to what I have planned. As a wise man once said, 'Age brings many things. Maturity isn't always included.' Now, I have a saying for you. 'Only risk what you are willing to lose.' That isn't so much a saying as it is a warning. This is my saying to you that I will most definitely employ. 'Pranks, only pull them if you won't get caught. But be prepared for retribution tenfold if you are.' I learned that when I sported such an interesting shade of green hair."

Dumbledore sweat-dropped as he remembered his part in the dying of Naruto's hair. It looked like Naruto was going to play a prank that took a decade to plan. It was certainly going to be an interesting year.

His warning given, Naruto turned his attention to his friends, relieved to see that they were all in one piece, if slightly annoyed in some cases, mainly Sasuke and oddly enough, Gaara seemed more bored than annoyed. Glancing at Haku, Naruto gave a heavy sigh at the guilt he could see. Shaking his head he spoke.

"Haku, I thought I told you that Sasuke-teme wouldn't hate you just because of what happened in the past. You have heard of the phrase 'forgive and forget.' I doubt he hates you, sure he's still probably pissed because you royally kicked his ass and handed it to him on a silver platter, but I don't think he hates you. If it will make you feel better, just apologize to the bastard. And Sasuke, stop glaring at Gaara. I don't know what he might have done to piss you off, but unless you want to contemplate what it would feel like to be buried alive in sand, I suggest you quit it. Oh, Shino and Kankuro, you'll probably be my first victims. Haku, are you still crushing of Zabuza or have you finally gotten over it and realized you saw him as more of a psychotic yet lovable older brother?"

Sasuke could feel his lips twitching as he held back a smile. He wasn't the only one. Sakura and Kiba were both muffling snickers as Ino and Temari outright smirked at the two. Shikamaru merely rolled his eyes, softly muttering a quiet 'Troublesome', while the others looked rather amused, even Gaara and Neji if the slightly upturned lips were anything to go by.

Kankuro and Shino on the other hand, looked utterly terrified.

Sasuke looked at Haku and found the boy smiling sheepishly as he answered Naruto's question.

"Zabuza is not psychotic."

"......"

".........."

".............."

"Okay maybe a little. And yes, I got over my crush. Why?"

Naruto gave Haku a grin that sent shivers down his spine.

"Oh, I just wanted to know if I should tell you that I was the one that set him up with Ibiki. They aren't that serious yet, but it looks good and its hilarious to watch them talking to each other. I don't think I've seen that much facial twitching in five minutes before. They refuse to show any emotion at all. That gives me an idea. If they aren't together when we get back, they're going to be. Since you're no longer breaking your heart over Zabuza, I'm gonna hook you up. You'll never know what hit you, not even if you were staring it in the eye."

Haku looked rather pale by the time Naruto finished his little speech. Sasuke couldn't stop himself from smirking, unfortunately for him Naruto saw it.

"Teme, don't think I don't have any evil schemes for you. Your last on my list but your still included." Gaara gave a small laugh and immediately drew Naruto's attention.

"No, the world's going to end. I'm too young to die." This caused Gaara to scowl while Kiba burst into laughter, Akamaru yipping his opinion.

"You know what Gaara, you'll be my new teddy bear. Stupid Baa-chan kept mine. She said she would hug it whenever she missed me, meaning all the time. I want my Mr. Cuddles, but I guess you'll have to do." He wasn't about to admit that he actually left his bear with Tsunade. Besides, Gaara would make a good substitute.

As if to prove his point, Naruto tackled the red head to the floor. Gaara sat up only to find Naruto in his lap and hugging him. He rested his head against his shoulder and fell asleep almost instantly.

All of the shinobi face-faulted when they heard light snoring coming from the blonde. Gaara's eye was twitching but he didn't move to disturb the blonde. Finally he sighed and stood up, cradling the blonde in his arms. Naruto loosened his grip slightly but didn't let go.

Sasuke glared at Gaara.

How dare the red-head touch his Naruto. He wanted to be Naruto's new teddy bear.

As if sensing the glare Naruto woke up and stared up sleepily at Gaara, much like he had with Tsunade.

"What?" Naruto smiled as Gaara scowled at him. Turning his head, he looked at the old man.

"The old man with the silver-hair is Dumbledore, he is the headmaster of the school that we will be attending. As for the others in the room, don't have a clue except that ones a werewolf, ones a paranoid old bat with a weird eye, and black-haired boy seems to get in trouble with the government pretty often and he has a scar from some curse. The others weren't here when I left, and I met the teen when I went to get Dumbledore. If you have any questions about what we will be doing tomorrow, direct them to the old man. Oh, Gaara, since your so cuddly, I'm gonna go back to sleep. Drop me and you'll learn a whole new meaning to the words hug, cuddle, and death grip. Night."

Sasuke glared at Gaara, his jealousy apparent to all of the shinobi with the exception of Lee who was busy praising Naruto's flames of youth. If he had noticed, he would have been praising Sauske's passionate flames of youthful love.

Dumbledore sighed, wishing that Naruto was still awake because he knew he would have to explain everything to him again.

"Everyone take a seat and I will start filling you in on what you will be doing. You will all need to hear what I am about to say since it will make things easier for all of us. Remus, can you gather all of the available Order members that you can find. We will be needing their help for the next few weeks."

The werewolf left to do as he was asked, returning with Tonks, Snape, McGonagall, and Sirius, who had been upstairs feeding Buckbeak when Harry had returned, otherwise he would have joined in with the twins' and Ginny's chanting. Dumbledore conjured up extra chairs and an especially soft arm chair for Gaara who had the misfortune of holding a sleeping blonde. He took the seat gratefully, sinking into the soft cushions as Naruto shifted slightly in his lap. When everyone was seated, Dumbledore began to explain things.

"There will be sixteen transfer students at Hogwarts this year. They are new to the Wizarding world since there was a barrier around their village that hid their magic until just recently. If they can learn four years worth of magic in the next month, then they will start as fifth years and will be sorted with the first years at the start of school feast. Since school starts in two weeks, they will only be placed with the fifth years if they are starting to learn third year material. I will need your help in teaching them everything they need to know. As Naruto told me earlier, the sixteen of you will require wands. We might as well get all of your school supplies tomorrow. I am sure that Mrs. Weasley will be kind enough to help you since she has experience. It would be so much easier to explain things if Naruto was awake, but since he is not it cannot be helped. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall will tutor you, as will Lupin and Moody. Now, if you would introduce yourselves. Just your first names will be fine, we can do full introductions later."

The shinobi nodded. First names were safe enough to give.

"Sakura, nice to meet you."

"Lee. The flames of youth burn..." Sakura slapped him on the head to shut him up so Neji could introduce himself.

"Neji, a pleasure to meet you."

"Tenten."

"Hinata, Neji is my cousin."

"Kiba, and this is Akamaru." Akamaru yipped his greeting.

"Troublesome. Shikamaru." Shikamaru yawned before laying his head back on the table.

"Temari."

Chouji stopped eating his chips long enough to give his name. "Chouji."

Ino glared at her boyfriend before smiling brightly. "I'm Ino."

"Sasuke."

"Haku. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"..."

Kankurou sighed.

"Mr. Silent is Shino and I'm Kankurou. One of Temari's younger brothers."

"Gaara, Kankurou's and Temari's younger brother. The blonde..." Naruto cut him off as he sat up and leaned back into Gaara's chest.

"Naruto. Now, before we finish introductions, let me get a few things straight. The old man filled you in on the magic blocking barrier thing that surrounds our village, right? Good, we'll skip the whole boring part of learning four years worth of magic in the next four weeks, two weeks here and then during the first two weeks of school. Tomorrow we go shopping for all of our school supplies along with the other Hogwart's students that are here. I have a vault there with a mountain of gold collecting dust, so I'm paying for all of the supplies, for every student here, no arguments or you might find your hair an interesting new color. Ask the old man what happened to his hair when he tried to pay for a present that I had picked out for him. Our first stop when we get to Diagon Alley will be Gringotts. Then our chaperon will decide where we go next. Our last stop will be the wand shop since I don't want to be tempted by mischief and cause trouble. Oh, and if you have a crush and need help to confess, I'm the guy to turn to. Ask the couples here, I set them all up and I have plans for the five guys that are single. I'll probably have played matchmaker for at least a few of the students by the end of the school year. Now, I'll stay awake for your introductions, but as soon as you're done I'm going back to sleep."

"Then, would you be kind enough to remove yourself from my lap?" Gaara kept his voice as pleasant as he could.

"Nope, I already told you, you're my new Mr. Cuddles. Unless you can find me another replacement, you're stuck with me."

Gaara looked like he was ready to kill. Dumbledore stifled a chuckle as he stared at the blonde, remembering the small blonde boy that he used to be. He certainly could have kept even the Marauders on their toes.

"You already know me, but I'll introduce myself again. Mad-eye Moody. Call me Mad-eye or Moody don't really care."

"Tonks. Naruto, what did you do to Dumbledore's hair?"

Naruto gave her a grin as he said in a stage whisper. "I think you should ask what he did to my hair in response."

Tonks turned to Dumbledore, but he was whistling softly and staring at the ceiling. She gave a disappointed sigh as a plump red-headed woman introduced herself and her family.

"I'm Molly, but you can call me Mrs. Weasley. These are my sons, Fred, George, and Ron. And this is my daughter Ginny."

Naruto gave the twins an evil smile which they returned with one full mischief. They would either be great friends or bitter enemies caught in a prank war that Hogwarts may not survive. Only time would tell.

"I'm Hermione."

"Harry."

"Harry's godfather, Sirius."

"Severus Snape, but you will address me as Professor Snape."

"Professor McGonagall, I'll be your Transfiguration teacher."

"Remus Lupin, but you can just call me Lupin."

"And I am ..."

"Old man. Legendary nut. Weird guy with the twinkling eyes. Expert extraordinaire at ignoring questions. The one, the only, Albus too many names to remember Dumbledore. Yeah, I think we know who you are. If Baa-chan is still here, she'll probably have a word with you in a more appropriate setting. Don't worry if she threatens you with extreme torture if something bad were to happen to me. She's weird like that. Don't know why since I annoy her all the time." Dumbledore chuckled.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, but you can call me Dumbledore-sensei if you are more comfortable with that. Now, I hope you do not mind sharing rooms. As you can probably tell, this house has not been lived in for a while and many of the rooms are uninhabitable until we can clean them out."

Naruto gave a huge yawn.

"Old man, give us a room and some sleeping bags and we'll be set for the night. As comfortable as Gaara's lap is, I'm pretty sure he'd kill me in my sleep if I stayed in his lap all night. I'm also pretty sure we've all had worse sleeping conditions than some sleeping bags. I remember one time I fell asleep while sitting under a waterfall. Man talk about wrinkled skin. It was winter too, the only reason I remember that is cause I had to stay in bed for two weeks because I had pneumonia. What time do we have to be up tomorrow? If it isn't too early then I'll make breakfast for everyone. Doesn't matter what you have, I'll whip something up."

Dumbledore chuckled as everyone sweatdropped at the blonde's words. Naruto was still the same as he remembered.

"You will leave for Diagon Alley at eight, so you should be up and ready by at least 7:30 if you want to eat breakfast before you go. Now, you will also need to buy..."

"We need to buy the books that were required for the first four years of school. Yeah, yeah. Give me some credit old man, I'm not so stupid that you have to point out the obvious. Ah screw it. Gaara, tuck me in would ya. Night people."

Naruto instantly went back to sleep as everyone but Gaara face-faulted. Gaara sighed, stood up and dumped the slumbering blonde into Sasuke's lap. Sasuke didn't even flinch as the blonde hugged him and buried his face into his chest. He smirked at Sasuke as Naruto started to drool mumbling about dancing ramen bowls. Sasuke glared at the red-head, not willing to show even the slightest sign of thankfulness to his rival. He would win Naruto in the end.

Turning to Dumbledore, he decided that being polite would be the best course of action.

"Can you please show us to our rooms? As Naruto said, we have all had worse sleeping conditions than a hard floor and sleeping bags. Naruto though, is the only idiot that would fall asleep under a waterfall in the dead of winter."

"Ah, but of course. I forgot to factor in the time difference. You all must be tired. If you will follow me, then I will show you to your rooms. Please be quiet when you enter the hall."

Sasuke stood up and followed the old wizard into the hallway, the others trailing behind him with their things, including Naruto's bag. He was shocked at how light Naruto was, he was probably lighter than all of the girls. He highly doubted that it was healthy either. He would need to rectify that as soon as possible.

The girls were given a room, a bit on the small side, but it would be fine given that there were only four of them. Dumbledore conjured up bright purple sleeping bags for them before bidding them good night. He led the boys to a larger room further down the hall, conjuring the same bright purple sleeping bags that he had for the girls. He bade them good night as well, ruffling Naruto's blonde spikes before he left.

Sasuke had some difficulty pulling the blonde off of him, but with Haku's help they finally managed to wrestle the boy into a sleeping bag. Gaara sat on the sleeping bag on Naruto's left and Sasuke was quick to grab the one on the right, not willing to lose to Gaara even in the slightest.

With one final look at his secret love, and a vow to win his heart, Sasuke slipped into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

A/N: Well, that was chapter four. I hope that it is as well recieved as the original version. In any case, you'll be seeing chapter five in the next day or three. Reviews are love, and as always, cookies to my readers. Until next time.  
Blackfang8 ^.^


	5. Nightmares, Cookies, Robes, and Wands

Disclaimer: I do not own.  
Warnings: Same as last chapter.

A/N: Okay, it's Tuesday, but I did get this posted before Wednesday. I still don't have the poll up, and probably won't have it up before next Wednesday given that I have to study for finals. I can feel the pain already, so you'll probably only being seeing one chapter a week from now on until winter break when I might be posting more than one chapter a week, hopefully, possibly, maybe. Damn, it probably won't happen, but I can still try.

(Re)Posted: 17 November 2009  
Word Count: 9,479

Key:  
**'Demon speaking telepathically'** - Demon speaking from within the mind and can only be heard by the host

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**Chapter Five: Nightmares, Cookies, Robes, and Wands**

A scream pierced through the early morning silence of the house as the sun peaked above the horizon, waking everyone from their sleep. Confusion clouded the minds of those that were coherent enough to realise that something had woken them.

Sasuke jerked awake at the terror filled voice. A kunai held out in front of him before he even fully opened his eyes. For a moment he just sat in there, unsure of what or who had made the noise until he heard whimpering from his left.

It was Naruto.

Quickly hiding the kunai away, he crawled over to the blonde. Naruto was curled into a tiny ball and was whimpering softly in his sleep. The sound was enough to break his heart and almost had him moving to wrap the blonde in his arms. Sasuke barely kept himself from doing so. He had no idea how his teammate would react, having never needed to wake him from a nightmare.

Making sure that he had enough distance to dodge out of the way, Sasuke gently touched his shoulder, shocked when Naruto violently flinched away from the contact, curling in on himself in an even tighter ball.

No longer worried about the blonde attacking him, Sasuke shifted even closer. Gripping both shoulders firmly, he tried to shake the smaller male awake, only slightly aware that the girls had come rushing into the room. He merely grunted slightly when Sakura shoved him over.

Seeing the trembling blonde, Sakura immediately rushed to his side, gently slapping his face as she tried to wake him. She ignored Sasuke's annoyed grunt, more concerned on waking Naruto. Unfortunately for her, he refused to open his eyes.

Worried that Naruto wasn't waking up, Gaara silently slipped from the room and down to the kitchen, returning with a bucket of water. Pushing past the others, he waited for only a moment for Sakura and Sasuke to move out of the way before he poured the icy liquid onto the blonde, successfully waking him.

Naruto shot up and into the corner away from them as his mind tried to separate reality from his nightmare.

'**Kit, calm down. It was just a nightmare. You're safe, they can't hurt you anymore. Breathe. We've practiced it before. In, out, in, out. Good.'**

Naruto slowly nodded his head, listening to what Kyuubi was telling him. Shivering, he forced himself to focus on his breathing. Once he had his breathing under control, he gradually became aware of his surroundings as a figure approached him. Looking up, he saw the concerned eyes of Sasuke, and completely lost his ability to think.

**'Kit, don't space out. He's asking if you're okay. At least nod your head or something.' **

Naruto blinked owlishly, then blinked again as he realized he was the center of everyone's attention. He grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. He hadn't meant to space out.

"Sorry, bad dream." He really wished that he had his Mr. Cuddles. He would hug the stuffed bear every time he woke up after a bad dream. It never failed to calm him down. Yet, he had left the bear in Tsunade's care, not wanting to risk bringing it with him and possibly losing it. Sighing, he stood up and walked over to his backpack.

After rummaging around, he finally found the outfit that he was looking for. He shook his head, trying to rid his hair of some of the water that Gaara had poured onto him. A chorus of indignant yelps met his ears as the water hit unsuspecting bystanders. Naruto couldn't stop the smirk that spread across his face. Now he wasn't the only one wide awake.

"Does anyone know what time it is?" Surprisingly enough, it was Dumbledore who answered. He had just walked into the room to see what all the fuss was about.

"Six. Are you still up to making breakfast? I know Molly would appreciate the help. I'll wake her up so she can show you around the kitchen."

"Ah, let her sleep. I know my way around a kitchen. Just point out the fridge and cookware and I'm good to go. Can you tell me where the bathroom is?" Dumbledore smiled as he pointed out a door further down the hall.

"Thanks old man. Will you be staying for breakfast or do you want me to see if Baa-chan is still around for you to talk to?"

"I was hoping you could contact Tsunade-hime to see if we could meet in person again. I remember a few of the stories Sarutobi told me about his students."

"Sure, sure. Let me summon Ruby and I'll see if the old hag is still here." A few hand seals, some blood, and a cloud of smoke later, Ruby sat in the middle of the room, yawning widely.

"Whatcha need Naru-cub?"

"Is Baa-chan still here of did she leave already?"

"No, she's currently at the Leaky Cauldron. Probably getting drunk or gambling. She said that she would be leaving at around noon, that way she would get back at night." Naruto couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"That sounds just like her, ditching her paperwork. Shizune-nee's going to chew her ear off for this. Oh well, I guess we'll see her when we go to Diagon Alley. Thanks Ruby."

"Say hi to Kyu-chan for me."

"Sure sure. Now get going, I don't want you causing trouble." Ruby smirked, disappearing in the usual cloud of smoke.

Naruto went to the bathroom and stripped out of his orange jumpsuit, happy that he could finally wear something else. It was still too soon for him to safely wear anything else other than his trademark orange jumpsuit. He pulled on his baggy cargo pants and the form fitting black sleeveless shirt that he had grabbed. Sticking his head under the sink, he ran water over his blonde spikes, rubbing them partially dry with a towel.

Fully awake now, even more than after his cold wake up call, he bundled up his dirty clothes and slipped back into the room and stuffed them into his backpack before he made a dash for the kitchen. Unfortunately for him, he tripped over his baggy pants as he dashed down the stairs. He landed at the bottom with a loud crash. A pair of curtains flew open, revealing a picture of an old woman.

"Traitors. Mudblood filth. Get out of my house. Leave you wretched..."

"Shut up you old hag. Do you want me to slice up your wrinkly face?" For a moment the picture was silent, then she started screaming again. Fed up, Naruto yanked the curtains closed, slapping a seal on them so they wouldn't open again. At least, for as long as the chakra in the seal would last. It would last until sometime after they had left for Hogwarts in any case.

Grumbling, Naruto entered the kitchen, his bad mood immediately disappearing as he set about destroying the kitchen. He was sure to lock the door as well as seal it behind him so no one could enter until he was done.

Sasuke stared at the locked door, hearing another small explosion.

"What do you think he's doing in there?" Sasuke shrugged. Given the fact that it was Naruto, he wasn't too sure he wanted to know. Sakura looked around at everyone else, looking for an opinion. She mostly received shrugs, or mildly amused looks, in Shikamaru's case, she got the almost standard reply of 'troublesome'. Harry was the only one to give an actual verbal response.

"Besides blowing up the kitchen, I have no clue." Mrs. Weasley looked worried as she stared at the door. She had attempted to enter the kitchen almost half an hour ago when she came down at around six thirty, only to find that she couldn't get in, no matter what she tried.

"I hope not. If he got hurt, we wouldn't be able to get in to help him." As if to prove her point, a high-pitched scream was heard from the kitchen. Several loud explosions followed it. The worry that had only been making him slightly agitated instantly skyrocketed. Sasuke was about to break down the door when it swung open, revealing an unscathed and grinning blonde.

"Did you like the theatrics? I must say, that scream was really convincing. It sounded like I chopped off my hand or something. Breakfasts ready so you can come in now." Everyone face faulted, then picked themselves up as a heavenly aroma met their noses.

"There's a mixture of foods from here and our country so feel free to experiment. Don't worry, I tasted everything myself so you shouldn't get food poisoning. Old man, are you going to come with us? I kinda wanted to surprise Baa-chan. I made her some cookies. Man, she eats them almost as much as she drinks sake. I think I'll have to send her a huge box every week while I'm gone."

Sakura gave a small shriek, instantly drawing the entire table's attention.

"You mean you made those cookies? You'll need to send more than a box. Shizune's hooked on them too. And you definitely have to make me and Hinata some. We've searched all the stores for them and couldn't find them. Tsunade-shisyou wouldn't tell us where she got them. She eats at least a dozen everyday, and if she doesn't get any, let's just say crossing her on one of those days will guarantee you a month's vacation in the hospital."

Sasuke was slightly surprised, but when he remembered the chicken Naruto had made, he felt a small trickle of drool form at the side of his mouth. He had to get some of those cookies. Using any means necessary.

Not really following what Sakura was saying, Harry returned his attention to the food in front of him. He couldn't believe the amount and variety of food that was on the table. He didn't even bother trying to identify the different dishes. He simply grabbed a plate and began to pile a little bit of everything on it. Ron and Hermione were doing the same, as was everyone else now that the attention was no longer on Sakura.

Moody stared at the food, not quite trusting the blonde's cooking abilities.

"Grizzly, if I wanted to kill you, you would be dead without you even knowing it. Now, stop staring and start eating before it's all gone. Between Chouji, Ron, Kiba, and the twins, there will be nothing left pretty soon."

And it was true, the four boys were inhaling as much food as they could get their hands on. Moody took a cautious bite, his eyes widening in disbelief. It was the best tasting pancakes he had ever had. Hell, everything was delicious.

"Naruto, you should open a restraunt. Hell, screw the restraunt. I'll pay you to cook every single meal for me." Naruto laughed as Chouji stared at him in awe.

"Sorry Chouji, but I have to kick the old hag out of office. I might open a restaurant when I retire, but that's a long ways away. But I guess I could cook for everyone once a week. We could make it a tradition or something. You guys can even take turns requesting dishes that you would want."

"Dear, you have to show me how you made these biscuits, they're absolutely to die for." Naruto blushed at Mrs. Weasley's compliment

"Sure. I'll show you Mrs. Weasely, but you'll have to show me how to make this cake that I found in the cookbook. I haven't heard of some of the spices and extracts they used."

Sasuke looked around the table, satisfied that everyone had looks of delight on their faces as they tried each dish. Even Gaara, Neji, and Shino had looks of amazement on their faces. Given that Naruto was the one that cooked, it was an acceptable display of emotions. Sasuke was sure that his face also betrayed his awe, not that he would have tried to hide his appreciation from Naruto.

It was almost eight when the last biscuit was eaten.

Everyone had complimented Naruto on his cooking, even Snape which seemed to have shocked all of the other Hogwarts students and a few of the adults. Sasuke didn't particularly care, although he would have done something to the man if he hadn't said anything.

"Ah, I almost forgot. I kinda got carried away with the cookies and I ended up making somewhere around fifty dozen so you guys can have a dozen each. The rest I'll give to Baa-chan." Sakura gave a squeal of delight as she rushed over and glomped onto Naruto. Hinata also gave the blonde a hug, not even blushing like she normally would have, although she did give a shy smile.

"Wait, your going to give Tsunade-sama twenty dozen cookies. Isn't that a bit much." Kiba stared at the blonde, waiting for an answer.

"Nope. She usually goes through that many in a week or two. I'm also going to have her share them with Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin, Zabuza, Ibiki-san, Anko-chan, Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei, Shizune-nee, and Gai-sensei. I don't think I left anyone out. Anyway, can someone help me box these while everyone else gets ready. Oh, old man, do you have the list of school supplies that we will need?"

"Ah, yes. We decided that you'll only purchase the things you need for your fifth year. You can use everyone's old books to study from. If you don't learn everything in time, then we'll have you purchase the books and things you'll need. Do you need some boxes for the cookies?"

"Hai. Can I get ten boxes, and thirty bags? The boxes should be able to fit at least two dozen cookies each, and the bags should be big enough for a dozen. If I hurry, I should be done in ten minutes."

---Fifteen Minutes Later---Leaky Cauldron---

Brushing soot off of his clothes, Sasuke found himself silently agreeing with Sakura and Ino that Floo was not his preferred method of travel. As disorienting as a portkey was with the sudden shift from one location to another, it was still more preferable to Floo.

Watching Temari step out of the green flames cursing under her breath, he knew that all of them would hate Floo to some varying degree. So far though, Kiba seemed to hate it the most. It probably had something to do with the Inuzuka's strong sense of smell.

Naruto was the last to arrive, a bag hugged close to his chest. Brushing off his clothes, he spotted Tsunade immediately. She was seated at a table, an empty bottle hanging from her hand just inches above the floor. Her head was pillowed on her other arm, the blonde sound asleep. Grinning widely he skipped over to her, taking a deep breath before leaning over next to her ear.

"Baa-chan, Shizune-nee's coming with more paperwork!"

What happened next was absolute chaos.

Roaring, Tsunade had picked up the table and flung it at the blonde who screamed, dodging just in time. Unfortunately, the table flew straight at Sakura and Hinata who had caught it by reflex, used to Tsunade flinging furniture about in fits of rage, both paperwork and sake induced. Not to mention, the things she threw were usually much heavier.

The patrons at the bar stopped trying to get out of the way of what would have been a very painful encounter with a wooden table. Instead, they stared slacked jawed as the two girls calmly set the table back down in its original place, dusting their hands off as they gave each other slightly amused grins tinged with just a touch of fond annoyance.

"Naruto! I'm going to ban you from ramen for the next five yea..."

Tsunade was just getting warmed up in her lecture when Naruto held a cookie under her nose. Like an obedient puppy, Tsunade sat down, her lecture completely forgotten as she stared at Naruto. The puppy dog eyes she was giving him looked absolutely ridiculous. Not that she cared, not when Naruto was holding the only thing that even Shizune knew better than to take away from her. Sake was one thing, but Naruto's cookies were something else entirely.

Blood would be spilt if anyone was foolish enough to take away Naruto-made cookies. A lot of blood.

Naruto laughed before he handed her his bag of cookies, keeping the one in his hand for himself. He already ate close to a dozen while he was baking, so he didn't really mind the loss. He could always make more later.

"There are twenty dozen cookies in the boxes in this bag. You have to share them though. There's a list of the people you have to share with. If they aren't there, then mail it to them. I'll send you at least ten dozen a week. I'll also send a couple boxes for everyone else. But you have to settle for these for the next few weeks since I probably won't have time to bake more for the next two, maybe even five weeks. Oh yeah, the old man wanted to talk to you. If you need me, I'll be in Diagon Alley shopping with everyone else. I also put seals on the boxes so you can't open them until you get home. And all of them won't open for you either so you have to share. I won't make you cookies ever again if you don't share, and I will find out if you don't. Bye, got to go."

Naruto left a horrified looking Tsunade with a chuckling Dumbledore who was happily munching on his own bag of cookies. They were truly quite delicious, and he would need to remember to have Naruto teach the house elves how to make them.

Sakura gave Tsunade a comforting pat on the back while Hinata simply gave her a small piece of advice. "It's better to share his cookies than never have them again. You can always bribe him to make you more later, but if he says he'll never make you cookies again, he definitely won't make you any."

Tsunade nodded, clutching the bag of cookies to her chest. Sure, she didn't have to like sharing, but she would do so if it meant she would still get her cookies.

Gaara was having a hard time containing his laughter. He understood why the Hokage had looked so horrified. Naruto's cookies were addictive. Just one bite and you were hooked, it didn't matter what type of cookie it was. He had made sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and chocolate chip cookies, all of them were just as addictive. But the look of absolute horror was just so funny.

A muffled giggle came from his left and Gaara glanced over just in time to see Haku trying to suppress a smile. He felt his breath catch in his throat as his heart beat sped up at the sight of the smiling boy. He was just so...cute.

Wait, did he just think that Haku was cute?

**'Yes, you did. And you're right, he is pretty cute. I fully approve.' **

'Shut up. Stupid raccoon.'

Gaara could hear Shukaku laughing in the back of his mind. Ever since he had lost to Naruto, the one-tailed demon had finally settled down. He could even sleep at night without the demon taking control of his body, but he still stayed up most nights. Old habits died hard, and it still was very unsettling to wake up. He did try to sleep at least one night a week, at the insistence of Temari.

Oddly enough, Shukaku had only driven him mad because he had thought that his cousin had been killed and he was going insane himself. But now that he knew that Kyuubi was sealed like he was, he wasn't as cruel as he used to be. He was still cruel, but that was how he used to be according to Kyuubi. Gaara had found this change greatly appreciated, except now the raccoon would talk to him more often and he found this extremely annoying at times.

**'You should talk to the blonde brat. He'll probably know what you're feeling since it seems he plans on getting you a mate. It sure as hell would make things easier for you. I mean, he set up **_**Ibiki **_**and **_**Zabuza.**_** If he got those two nuts together, I don't even want to find out what he'll do to you.'**

Gaara shuddered at the thought.

The raccoon had a point, he definitely didn't want to find out what Naruto had planned in getting him together with someone. Now that he had announced that he would be meddling, he just knew that the blonde wouldn't do anything subtle. It would be expected, which meant that Naruto would do something completely unexpected.

Looking for said blonde menace, he was surprised to find himself in an alleyway standing in front of a brick wall, having simply followed the group as his focus was on his thoughts and conversation with Shukaku. He watched in boredom as Mrs. Weasley pulled out her wand and tapped some bricks. His eyes widened ever so slightly as the bricks began to move around and rearrange themselves until they formed an archway that led out to a brightly lit cobble-stoned street. He looked at his companions and was surprised that only Naruto didn't look shocked to some degree, but then he remembered that the blonde had said that he had been here before once with the previous Hokage when he was younger.

"Mrs. Weasley, where do you want to go first?" Mrs. Weasely glanced at the blonde boy next to her. She was the chaperon of the group, large as it was.

"I suppose we should get your robes first since that will probably take the longest, next to getting your wands."

"Okay, then I'll meet you guys at Madam Malkins. I'll run over to Gringotts to get the money. And I'm paying for everything, no arguments. You can't go to your vaults either since I got your keys. I'll give them back to you after we finish shopping. See you at Madam Malkins in a bit." With that, Naruto took off down the street leaving several shocked wizards behind.

"Well, come along dears. We'll get your robes first since it will certainly take the longest of everything aside from your wands." She led the large group down the street to a shop filled with different colored robes.

Seeing the robes, Kiba immediately balked at the idea. "No way. I am not wearing a dress."

Kankurou nodded his agreement. "I agree with dog-breath, I refuse to wear a dress."

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome."

Temari rolled her eyes at her boyfriend before putting a stop to all complaints. "Shut up and wear them. Or do you want me to force you two into them?"

Kankurou immediately backed down, recognizing the glint in her eyes. His sister was scary when she was angry, but that was nothing compared to when she was in a sadistic mood. He prefered fighting Gaara than facing Temari on those days.

Kiba opened his mouth to protest again but quickly snapped it shut again when both Ino and Sakura added their glares to Temari's.

He sulked as he was forced to be first to be fitted. He did take comfort in the fact that he wasn't the only ones that would be stuck wearing them. Of course, he would be sure to take pictures of the others for blackmail purposes just in case. If anyone thought about teasing him, he would have reminder that he wasn't the only one forced to wear a dress.

Naruto showed up after Kiba, Kankurou, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Lee had been fitted. Neji was almost done having his robes adjusted when the blonde came bouncing into the store.

"Hey guys. Sorry it took so long. I didn't know how much we would need so I ended up getting sacks for everyone. Lets see, there are sixteen of us plus five, that's twenty-one, plus another two and that's twenty-three. Good, I did get the right number of bags."

He wouldn't mention the fact that he had asked the goblins to take the longest route to his vault at the fastest speed possible. Not if he wanted to be able to go back another time and ride through the massive roller coaster again, only this time going over every single inch of tracks.

Dropping the sack he had slung over his shoulder, he started to hand out coin-filled bags to everyone, including Mrs. Weasley, her bag being the only red one. He had wanted to make sure that he would be able to distinguish her bag from the rest, given that he had placed sixteen hundred galleons in her bag.

"That's my gift to you for being nice enough to chaperon all of us. Twenty-two kids, only four of which are your own, is a lot to look after. Everyone has a hundred gold galleons. You can spend whatever's left after we get all of our school supplies."

At the mention of how much was in each bag, Mrs. Weasely began immediately began to protest the amount. Naruto was glad that he hadn't mentioned the true amount that was in her bag, but he was still distraught as she tried to give the money back.

Seeing the blonde's distress Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. "Just take it. Not many people accept him back home, so he really cherishes those who like him for himself. He might not show it, but he's really sensitive about gifts. If you reject it, it breaks his heart. And he's stubborn, so he will get you to accept the money sooner or later, whether or not it is the money itself or something of equal value."

Mrs. Weasley sighed, but she gave the blonde a bone crushing hug which he returned with equal enthusiasm. It was a gift, and she wouldn't hurt the blonde's feelings by not accepting it. She would just have to make sure that he knew that she appreciated it.

While he had passed out the money and had argued with Mrs. Weasley, the rest of group had been fitted with the help of a few assistants, Madam Malkins having the final say before they were allowed to slip the robes off. Naruto, as well as Sasuke, were the last two of the group that still needed to be fitted. With only two left to be fitted, the assistants disappeared back to what they were originally working on. Finishing earlier orders of other students. Magic only sped things up so fast.

Naruto decided to go last, leaving the Uchiha no choice but to stand on the stool and be fitted with the black robes. It took only three minutes, but they lasted an eternity since Naruto seem to find the whole thing fascinating and was staring at him. Sasuke refused to even ponder why Naruto was paying such close attention, let alone fidget under the intense blue gaze.

Still, he gave the smallest of smirks as he stepped off the stool. Naruto hadn't paid nearly as much attention to Gaara when the Kazekage had been fitted for his robes. The score was still in the red head's favor, but Sasuke knew that he was quickly catching up. It was also only a matter of time before he took the lead.

As Naruto hopped up onto the stool, a boy with blonde hair that was almost lighter than Ino's, if that was even possible, entered the store. His icy blue eyes flashed with contempt when he spotted their group.

Naruto watched with narrowed eyes as the pale blonde stalked over to their group. "Dear, I'll need you to take off your shirt since it's getting in the way."

Naruto hesitated. It was too late for him to cast a henge or even a weak genjutsu to hide his scars. He would have done so if he had known that he would be taking his shirt off. It was what he normally did when he was topless around his team, or went to the hot springs with Jiraiya.

"Can't I keep it on?"

"No dear. The fabric keeps sliding off. I'll only take a few minutes." As Naruto hesitated again, the other blonde growled at him.

"Hurry up. Malfoys should not be forced to wait. Especially if I have to be in the same store as a Weasley, or worse, a Mudblood." Naruto stared as Ron's face turned red with anger and Hermione blushed, from what, he wasn't quite sure but figured that she had been insulted as well.

That, more than anything else, was all that Naruto needed to prompt him into action. If his hestitation meant that they would be in the store longer, than he would simply have stop hesitation.

Growling, Naruto yanked his shirt off and tossed it to Gaara to hold. He didn't notice the gasps that filled the room at the sight of his well muscled chest and stomach. He did notice the sharp intake of breath as Madam Malkin caught sight of the scars that criss-crossed his back. These scars were reminders of each time he had been raped, and Naruto suddenly felt very vulnerable.

He should have used a genjutsu, even a henge would have worked to hide them. It wouldn't have mattered if the others would have immediately noticed that he had done so. At least his scar from his fight with Sasuke in the Valley of the End was so faint that it wasn't noticeable, not unless you were specifically looking for it, and even then it was something that could still be missed.

"Malfoy, that was uncalled for." Harry hissed at the boy, seething with anger. Naruto blinked in surprise when he saw a look of pain and guilt flash in Malfoy's eyes before he pushed it aside. He was honestly surprised he had even caught it, given how quickly the emotions were hidden.

"Shut-up Potter. I don't have to listen to you ramble to know that you are a nut job. Save yourself from further embarrassment by keeping quiet." Naruto grinned wickedly. He had just found his first victim. Of what, he wasn't quite sure just yet, but Malfoy was most assuredly his first target from Hogwarts.

Jumping off the stool, he walked over to Malfoy and stood on tip-toe to stare the taller boy in the eye, and still fell short of being at eye-level with him.

"Unless you would like me to rearrange that pretty face of yours, I suggest you keep quiet until it is your turn. It would be such a pity too if I had to make your appearance match your personality. Now, shut up and sit down." Naruto turned his back on Malfoy and started to walk back to the stool when the paler blonde spoke.

"What the hell happened to your back? Oh, I know. Your parents couldn't stand you so they beat you. Am I right?" Naruto was rooted to the spot as he began to have flashbacks of what really happened.

Gaara immediately rushed to the blonde's side and hugged him close when he started to shake. This was exactly what they didn't need. Naruto was undoubtedly remembering the real reason why he had those scars.

Furious, Sasuke had stepped in front of Malfoy, his eyes flaring red as his Sharingan activated. Malfoy visibly flinched at the sight of his eyes. This only caused Sasuke's snarl to widen slightly. He may not be able to kill the blonde, but he would make him fear for his life.

"Speak to him again, even look at him the wrong way and I will kill you in the most agonizing way possible, but I'll be sure to make you beg for death before I actually kill you. No matter how many months it will take me, you will beg for death, and I will make sure that it is anything but swift when you finally get it." Malfoy nodded, clearly unable to speak in his terror. Turning his back on him with a sneer, worried black eyes swiftly replaced his Sharingan as he rushed over to Gaara and Naruto.

Naruto was still shaking, his blue eyes glazed over as he relived the nightmares of his past. Gaara was gently rocking the boy back and forth, whispering his name over and over, trying to bring Naruto back to reality. He looked worried, and that only caused Sasuke's own concern to flare to even greater heights.

Naruto wasn't responding at all.

"Sakura, can you snap him out of it?" Ignoring the desperate note that could be heard in his voice, he turned to the pink haired medic, utterly helpless. That more than anything, snapped Sakura into action as she moved forward, Hinata right on her heels.

Sakura and Hinata examined Naruto carefully, Hinata even subtly activating her Byakuugan. Sasuke hoped that they could fix the blonde, wondering if Tsunade had trained them enough for them to deal with whatever was affecting Naruto. Hinata shook her head as Sakura spoke.

"We can't do anything for him. Whatever Malfoy said must have triggered some memories that he was trying to suppress. I would ask Ino to try to help him find his way back to reality, but it might cause more harm than good. All we can do is wait for him to snap out of it." Sasuke stared at the blonde, worry creasing his face. Would Naruto even snap out of it?

"Can Tsunade do anything?" Sakura bit her lip as she shrugged.

"I don't know, but I'll run and get her." She left the store at a dead sprint, keeping herself from running at full speed in order to keep their cover. Five minutes later, she returned with a very panicky Tsunade.

She nearly burst in to tears when she saw the shivering blonde being held protectively in Gaara's arms. Pulling the boy into her own arms, she began to scan him with her chakra. Her eyes blazed with anger when he let out a small whimper.

"Talk. Now. What happened?"

It was Gaara who spoke first.

"Malfoy insulted Hermione and the Weasley's, then he insulted Harry. Naruto told him to shut up. When Malfoy saw the scars on his back, he asked where he got them before commenting on how Naruto's parents had to have given them to him. Naruto seemed to space out at this statement then he started to shake."

"Who's Malfoy?" Gaara pointed to the terrified blonde, his earlier terror increasing drastically with the sudden appearance of Tsunade. She gave the teen a murderous glare that promised a death even worse than the one Sasuke had threatened before she returned her attention to the blonde in her arms. Naruto was more important, she could always threaten to kill Malfoy later.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Tsunade turned pain filled eyes to Sasuke.

"All I'll say is he's probably remembering how he got these scars. From what he told me, he got them on his birthdays and a few other days. I couldn't bring myself to question him further. He should snap out of it pretty soon. How long has he been like this?"

"A little more than ten minutes." Sakura was quick to answer her teacher.

"Gaara, hold him for a little while. He should come to in a few minutes or so. If he has another one of these episodes, one of you guys hold him and whisper soothing words in his ear. They usually last for fifteen minutes or so. Whatever you do, don't move him from the room. And if he hugs you out of the blue, don't push him away. I did the first time and he was stuck like this for a day. He wouldn't talk for three days when he woke up. I'll be going. If I find out any of you hurt him, I will most definitely make you feel pain like you've never felt before. He's fragile, and can break easily, so please be careful with him." The fifteen shinobi nodded in understanding as they looked at the shaking blonde wrapped in Gaara's arms. If there was one thing they would do, it was to protect Naruto at all costs.

Tsunade placed a soft kiss on Naruto's forehead before she left the shop. She would threaten Malfoy another day, since there were already fifteen others present to make sure that he understood what would happen should he ever cause Naruto pain again. For now, she wanted to get back to her conversation with Dumbledore, as well as her bottle of firewhiskey.

A minute after she left, Naruto blinked, looking around in confusion before he shook his head. Pulling out of Gaara's embrace, he hopped onto the stool like nothing had happened. Madam Malkin quickly fitted him, a gentle smile on her face when she patted him on the shoulder.

"You're all done dear. I should have all of your robes done by noon. Come back then." Naruto grinned and pulled his shirt back on, causing the girls to blush and a few of the boys too as they watched his muscles ripple. Naruto looked hot in his new outfit. The skin tight shirt showed off his well sculpted muscles and his baggy pants hung low on his slim hips.

Sasuke stared at Naruto's ass, suppressing a nose bleed as he watched the blonde move. Damn it, he blamed Kakashi's influence for the countless perverted thoughts dancing around his mind. It wasn't his fault that his perverted teacher had corrupted him.

Forcing himself to look at the bookcases, Sasuke tried to keep himself from staring at Naruto yet again as an attendant gathered the books they would need.

The books were heavy so Naruto offered to carry the girls' and took them even as they protested saying that they could carry them on their own. Naruto ignored their protests and carried eight bags of books with ease.

Neji, Lee, Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, Gaara, and Sasuke were quick to relieve Naruto of his burden. Each grabbing a bag from the blonde, refusing to let him carry them. Gaara and Sasuke had grabbed Hermione's and Ginny's bags while the five other boys had grabbed their girlfriends' bags. Naruto pouted when Haku took his bag.

"I'm not a girl, I can carry my own bag." Haku just chuckled at the pout that Naruto gave him.

"Fine then, see if I care." Naruto stormed out of the store, stomping with hands clenched at his sides, only to come back looking at Mrs. Weasely sheepishly, a hand rubbing the back of his neck as he looked up from beneath blonde spikes.

"Where do we go next?" Nearly everyone burst into laughter, while Gaara, Neji, Shino, and Sasuke smirked. After all, they didn't laugh, not in public anyway. The last time that any of them had, it had caused panic and fangirls to appear en mass.

Sasuke was very happy when they had finished shopping for everything but their wands. They had just picked up their robes and were now headed for the wand shop. At this point, everyone was carrying at least three bags, although the boys carried the heavier things except for Naruto. No one was allowing him to carry anything even remotely heavy.

Naruto was bubbling with excitement as they entered the wand shop, all twenty-three of them crowding into the tiny shop.

"Ah, some new faces. You are here for your wands I presume. Dumbledore told me that you would be coming today. Alright, who will go first?" Naruto grinned as he pushed Sasuke to the front of the group.

"Hmm, stick out your wand arm." Sasuke blinked but quickly decided the man meant his dominate hand. He stuck out his hand as a tape measurer began to measure him while the man went to search the rows of thin boxes.

"Ah, here we go. Heart-string of a Chinese Fireball, twelve and a half inches long, made from a thousand year old banzai tree. Go ahead, give it a wave now."

Feeling like a complete idiot, Sasuke waved the wand. He was surprised when he heard chirping like that of the Chidori and sparks of electricity shot out of the wand, only to wrap around him forming wings before disappearing with one last chorus of chirps.

"Ah, a perfect match. Next." This time, Naruto pushed Gaara forward. Gaara stuck out his hand as he waited for Ollivander to find a wand for him to try.

"How about this one? I've had it for quite a while and its too powerful for most wizards, but I think it will work for you. Eleven inches, made from the wood of a now extinct tree that once grew in the Sahara desert, sand from a demon raccoon for the core." Gaara took the wand and gave it a graceful wave, slightly surprised when a stream of golden sand trailed out, forming a small rose before disappearing.

"Oh, another on their first try. Next."

Haku was Naruto's next victim. Sighing, he held up his arm as the man disappeared among the shelves once again.

"Try this. Ten and three quarter inches, made from the wood of a tree that only grew in the coldest of places, hair of an ice wolf as its core."

Haku flicked the wand, staring wide eyed as large fluffy snowflakes began to fall, disappearing in a cloud of blue dust whenever they touched something. It was quite beautiful to watch.

"Wonderful. Next."

This time Naruto pushed Shino forward, his eyes gleaming with mischief. Shino stuck his arm out and was handed a wand almost immediately.

"Twelve inches, wood from a willow that was a haven to all sorts of bugs, wings of a flame butterfly for the core. Come now, we don't have all day, give it a wave."

Shino flicked it like Haku did and a stream of bright red and orange butterflies flew out of the wand tip.

"Ah, truly magnificent. Next please." Kankurou was shoved forward almost immediately.

It was starting to get amusing as Naruto hid behind Mrs. Weasley as if he did nothing at all.

"Hmm. You're trickier than the others. Why not? Try this, eight and a half inches with the same wood as the red-head. A mixture of phoenix tears and basilisk venom as the core."

Kankurou gave it a sweeping wave and a stream of purple sparks and bubbles flew out of his wand.

"Good good. I've never had so many get their wands on their first try. Nex..." Before he could even finish saying the word, Naruto had pushed Neji forward.

It took Ollivander a longer time to find Neji a wand to try.

"Okay, this should do. Fourteen inches, wood from a rather interesting tree, called the Tree of Fate, and the feather of a rather ill-tempered phoenix as the core."

Neji waved the wand, scowling as he did so. Naruto started laughing when he had heard what the wand was made of. He stopped however when a rain cloud appeared above his head and started dumping buckets of ice cold water on him.

"Neji, that was mean." Naruto pouted.

"Hmm, not the most spectacular reactions, but it suits you. Next."

Pouting still, Naruto shoved Lee forward. Ollivander took one look at Lee's bushy eyebrows and rushed to the back of the shop, coming back with a wand that was tinged somewhat green.

"Eight and three quarter inches, wood from a unique green oak tree, petal of a lotus that grew on the back of a giant caterpillar for the core."

Naruto had his eyes closed because he was laughing so hard, saving him from the blinding sunset scene that had appeared when Lee waved the wand. It was much like one of the scenes that appeared whenever Lee and Gai were together.

As everyone tried to regain their vision, Naruto shoved Chouji foward. Ollivander knocked down several boxes as he tried to find a certain wand while he was still half-blind.

"That was one of the most unique reactions I've ever seen. Now where was it? Ah here it is. Eleven and a half inches, wood from an oak tree, and the hair of a rather big-boned unicorn for the core."

Chouji gave it a small wave and nearly dropped it when a large plate of barbecue pork appeared in front of him. To his disappointment, it disappeared before he could touch it. Kiba was pushed forward next and Ollivander chuckled when he saw Akamaru. Kiba having brought the 'puppy' with him, still tucked within his jacket.

"I've got just the wand for you boy. Ten inches, wood from a dogwood tree, and the fang and fur of a two headed red wolf."

Kiba gave the wand a slow wave, the room was filled with howling as a large white moon appeared in front of Kiba. Kiba grinned as he stepped back, staring at his wand with interest. Shikamaru was shoved forward, but he nearly fell over since he was half-asleep.

"Troublesome." Naruto grinned as he slowly snuck behind Temari.

Shikamaru waited as Ollivander examined him from head to foot. "Hmm, this should be easier then I thought. Eight inches, cherry wood, horn of a stag for the core. The laziest stag I've ever seen too."

Laughter filled the room as Shikamaru gave his wand a lazy flick, large fluffy clouds began to float around the room causing people to laugh even harder. It seemed that the wands fit their personalities in one way or another.

Temari glared daggers at Naruto as he pushed her forward. She stuck out her arm as she tapped her foot impatiently. Ollivander looked at her for a moment then ducked behind a shelf, coming back with a wand in hand.

"Same tree as the red-head and the boy with face paint, eleven and a quarter inch, claw of a wind weasel for the core."

Temari looked at the wand and then gave it a gently wave like it was a fan. A silver stream of wind wrapped around her, gently ruffling her hair and clothes like they had been caught in a soft breeze.

Hinata stumbled forward as Temari stepped back. "Ah, are you related to..."

"Neji's my cousin." Ollivander nodded and produced a wand.

"This wand is a cousin to your cousin's wand. Wood from the tree called the Tree of Change, twelve inches, the feather of a phoenix for the core. The feather came from the cousin of the feather in Neji's wand. Go ahead give it a wave."

Hinata hesitated for a moment before she gave her wand a cautious wave. Glistening water droplets surround her before disappearing with a flute-like note.

Everyone clapped. It had been really beautiful. Ino was shoved foward next, by now everyone knew it was the blonde boy who was doing it, but they didn't have the heart to tell him to stop since he seemed to be having so much fun.

"Ah, here we go. Ten and a quarter inches, oak wood, feather and hair of a flower loving hippogriff. Had an absolutely gorgeous blonde coat and feathers. Give it a wave." Ino smiled and gave the wand a short wave, her smile growing as the scent of flowers filled the air, shimmering bubbles adding to the fragrance whenever they popped.

"Only three left. Who's next?"

Naruto pushed Tenten forward and then skipped over to stand next to Sakura.

"Ah, let's see. Thirteen and a half inches, wood from a rather ancient willow, fang and heartstring of a two-headed Norwegian Ridgeback. Quite the unusual dragon."

Tenten flicked her wand and stifled a small gasp of delight as twin dragons of shimmering red and blue snaked their way around her, not quite touching her. Everyone was disappointed when they disappeared.

Naruto grinned as he pushed Sakura forward. "Your turn Sakura-chan."

"Sakura is it. Such a lovely name. Here you go. Twelve and a quarter inches, wood from a thousand year old Sakura tree, with a Sakura blossom and the feather of a phoenix that lived in that tree." Sakura waved her wand and gave a soft giggle when thousands of pink Sakura petals swirled around her.

Smirking, Sasuke and Gaara snuck up behind the blonde and gave him a push foward. Naruto stumbled than turned around to pout at them. "Ah, I remember you. You wandered into my shop when you were six years old, did you not?"

Naruto turned to grin at Ollivander. He remembered that day, as well as why he had slipped into the small store.

"Hai. I was hiding from the old man. He found me when I went to eat some ice cream. I'll make this easy for you. Do you have something that's nine inches long with wood from a fox tree?"

Ollivander gave Naruto a solemn look. "Yes, and it's the only wand I have made with fox wood. Are you sure it'll be a match for you?"

Naruto nodded happily as Ollivander handed him a reddish wand. Naruto had barely even touched it when red flames shot out of the end and wrapped around him. "I told you so. What's the core?"

Ollivander stared at the blonde boy in absolute awe. "A strand of fur from each tail of a nine-tailed fox demon."

Naruto's grin grew even wider as he handed the wand back to Ollivander.

"Can you wrap it? I don't want to get in trouble just yet."

Ollivander nodded, and wrapped the wand with trembling hands.

**'Kit, you do know why you are a match for that wand don't you?' **

'Yeah, it's cause you're sealed into me. Right Kyu-chan?'

**'No, that isn't the reason. But I guess you'll find out soon enough on your own. Now, have you noticed how Gaara and Haku have been sneaking glances at each other when they think no one's looking?' **

'Why do you think I asked for Haku for this mission?' Naruto heard Kyuubi bark with laughter.

**'You planned on getting them together didn't you? I don't think you'll have much of a problem there. Just lock them in a closet and they'll be screwing like rabbits. Now, what about the other three?' **

'Not telling you.' Naruto had expected Kyuubi to argue, but she didn't. He heard her sigh and grumble in the back of his mind, but that was it. He might have felt guilty if he hadn't planned on telling her his plans for the others once he had finished with Gaara and Haku.

They left the shop, their money bags still considerably full despite how much they had to pay for their supplies.

"Hey, we didn't buy trunks did we?" Mrs. Weasley gave a small gasp.

"Oh no. You defenitely need trunks. Let's buy those, then we can explore for the rest of the day. We can leave our things at the Leaky Cauldron until it's time to leave. But first, the trunks."

Since sixteen trunks as well as all their other bags were more than they could carry, Naruto suggested putting everything in the trunks and sorting them out later. So in three of them, they stored their books, while in five they stored their robes, potion ingredients went into another four and the last four held everything else they had bought. They carried them into the Leaky Cauldron and Naruto paid for a room to keep them in. He slapped seals onto all of the trunks, the window and the door before they left. He wasn't going to risk someone stealing their stuff. It would take too much time to replace everything if it was stolen.

Naruto was fascinated with Qudditch, as were Kiba, Lee, Temari, and TenTen, much to Ron and Harry's delight. Naruto was tempted to buy a broom, but decided not to. He was more interested in buying a pair of bludgers but Gaara had stared him out of that idea.

At least, for the moment anyway.

He needed to grab a pair or five before they went home. It would be good training for Academy students on why they should dodge. Iruka-sensei always had a headache whenever his class began lessons on how to properly dodge and why they should dodge. That was one lesson that Naruto hadn't goofed off in. The man would definitely appreciate the gift. Maybe a little too much given that it was the only lesson that Iruka showed his prankster streak.

Naruto followed Hermione to the bookstore again and had her help in choosing out several books. He was fascinated by several of them and the two of them bought a good fifty books together, much to the shop owner's delight. Naruto carried the two heavy bags with ease, smiling as he thought about all the things they would be learning in the next month. Even with a couple of snake bastards to deal with, the next year was going to be so much fun.

"Come on dears, it's time to go back." Naruto sighed, but followed everyone back to the Leaky Cauldron. Dumbledore greeted them with a smile when they were all safely back at Grimmauld Place.

"Now, are you ready for your first lesson in magic?"

Naruto had started bouncing off the walls at these words. It took both of Sasuke's and Gaara's death glares to quiet the blonde down long enough for the old wizard to explain everything that they would be doing in the next month. Of course, Naruto was bouncing in his seat for the entire explanation. He was going to have so much fun.

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A/N: Yay, yet another chapter is up, and you get one tomorrow as well. Slowly but surely I'm getting closer to posting new chapters. Anyway, I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter. And seriously, reviews are love and don't fail to make me smile. Seriously going to need them to help me through finals. Thanks for reading, and reviewers get bonus brownies aside from the standard reader's cookies.  
Blackfang8


	6. Closets, Trains, and Candy

Disclaimer: Do I still need to say that I don't own?  
Warnings: I don't have any new warnings, except for maybe spelling, but I think I've done pretty well so far.

A/N: It's Wednesday again, and yet another chapter. I know that I mentioned this yesterday, but I'll probably only be posting a chapter every Wednesday until winter break. Poll still isn't up and I'm not to sure when it will be, but I'm really hoping that it will be soon.

(Re)Posted: 18 November 2009  
Word Count: 2,730

Story Stats Chapters 1-5:  
Reviews: 13  
Hits: 853  
C2s: 1  
Favs: 8  
Alerts: 3

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**Chapter Six: Closets, Trains, and Cookies**

The next two weeks passed quickly, with a lot happening. Naruto had learned everything in the first week and a half, without the use of his clones. Showing to the others just how much he had held back when they were younger. No one held a grudge though, not when they knew why he had done so.

Sasuke, Neji, and Hinata had been forbidden the use of their bloodline limits and the two boys had reluctantly agreed. Hinata had no problem with it since it would only make them stand out when they wanted to blend in. All of them had learned everything they needed to know up to their third year by the middle of the second week, much to their teachers' amazement and delight. The last few days were rather uneventful until the night before they would leave for school.

The group had been packing when an ear-shattering scream echoed through the house. Sasuke and Gaara had rushed to the source only to find Naruto curled in a ball on the floor shaking, a dementor standing above him. Lupin burst into the room, seeing the dementor he sent a Patronus to force it away from Naruto. It turned into a silver orb and Sasuke immediately shut it into the small wooden box it had come out of.

Gaara pulled Naruto into his lap, trying to calm the boy down but Naruto had begun to whimper and cry as he shook even harder, not hearing a word that Gaara said. Sasuke pulled Naruto into his lap and began to stoke his blonde spikes, quietly whispering in his ear every soothing thing he could think of. Gaara took hold of the blonde's hand and gripped it tightly, using his other hand to rub his back. Sasuke let out an almost silent sigh as he felt Naruto calm ever so slightly.

Slowly, Naruto stopped shaking but he still cried and whimpered. Fifteen minutes later, his breathing evened out as he fell asleep. Both Sasuke and Gaara heaved a sigh of relief when Naruto fell asleep. The blonde was still curled in a ball but he was now hugging Sasuke, his face buried in his chest. Gaara bent and kissed Naruto lightly on the cheek before he stood up.

"Uchiha, I'll give you one warning. You break his heart, I'll kill you." The fact that his death would be long and painful didn't need to be said. Gaara left the room with one final measuring look, searching for Haku.

After their fourth day there, Naruto had locked the two boys in a closet, refusing to let them out until they admitted they had feelings for each other. The two had ended up making out and things would have gone further if Naruto hadn't unlocked the door and dashed in pulling the door closed behind him.

He didn't seem to notice the two blushing boys in the dark, but he did notice Gaara had extremely strong feelings for Haku when he sat in his lap. Naruto had nearly choked on his laughter. He gave the two boys a kiss on the cheek before he stretched out and fell asleep in their laps. They still didn't know why he had burst into the closet.

Sasuke had to stifle his anger when Gaara had kissed Naruto on the cheek. He knew now that Gaara saw Naruto as a brother, but that still didn't stop him from being jealous. He grinned when he remembered how he had found the three boys shut up in a closet. Naruto was asleep on their laps and they were blushing a red that rivaled Gaara's hair. Sasuke's first thought was to give them a very painful death, but then Naruto woke up grinning like a cat that had not only caught the canary, but the mouse as well, while also getting a large bowl of cream.

"Two down, three to go."

Gaara immediately stood up and stalked out of the closet, his face still a bright red. Haku was trying to contain his laughter at the look of absolute shock on Sasuke's face. Sasuke had started to laugh when Naruto pouted. When the others found out, all of them had worn identical looks of shock on their faces, Shino and Kankurou had looks of absolute horror. Kiba had laughed so hard he nearly choked on his own saliva.

This had caused Naruto to pout and Sasuke had to look away as a faint blush spread across his cheeks. Kakashi had corrupted him, and he was holding firm to that belief.

Kiba had gone red in the face and started to stutter apologies to the blonde. No one could refuse the blonde when he used his eyes. Sasuke had a hard time keeping himself from jumping the boy when he pouted.

Sighing, Sasuke stood up and carried the blonde into their room, gently placing him on the bed. Naruto rolled over and grabbed a pillow, curling his body around it. Sasuke bent over and placed a gentle kiss on his secret love's forehead. Standing up, he left the room to finish packing. He had an entire year to win Naruto over.

---Time Skip---Next Morning---

Tsunade had managed to talk Fudge into providing a Ministry car that would take Naruto to Kings Cross. Of course, it was a magically modified car that allowed all twenty-two teenagers, Mrs. Weasely, Tonks, and Lupin to sit comfortably in it.

To save time with carrying trunks, Naruto had stored them in a scroll, explaining to the wizards that it worked much like a magical trunk that allowed you to store more things then it should hold. It also was made more believable when he used his wand to store the trunks.

Out of all of them, Naruto was the only one that excelled at all subjects. Gaara, Sasuke, and Temari were great at anything involving curses and jinxes. Kankurou, Hinata, Sakura, Chouji, and Shino were good at both Potions and Herbology. Lee was excellent with Care of Magical Creatures, as was Kiba. Shikamaru could breeze through History of Magic with ease and had even showed promise in both Arithmacy and Ancient Runes. Tenten, Haku, and Neji were extremely good at charms.

All of them were terrific at Transfiguration and DADA since they were used to transforming and defending against all types of attacks. Dumbledore had been overjoyed at the speed they learned. They could sleep through all their classes and still pass.

They had arrived a little early, giving them plenty of time to grab the last four compartments at the very back of the train. Ron and Hermione had to go to the prefect compartments. Naruto had opened the scroll and sorted their trunks out.

He refused to let Ron and Hermione carry their trunks and did it for them, causing many a person to stop and stare as he carried them with ease to the very front of the train. Naruto had stored them and spent nearly half an hour helping other students to store their trunks as he made his way back to the end of the train.

Naruto slid into the compartment that Harry was sitting in and found a boy and girl struggling to lift their trunks into the overhead racks. Without saying a word, he took their trunks and stored them safely overhead. Naruto grinned at them sheepishly as they stared at him in amazement. Just then, the twins burst in breathing hard.

"Naruto, you have to help us. They made Malfoy a prefect and we just pranked him. He knows it's us, but he doesn't have proof so him and his lackey's are bullying first years."

Naruto's eyes flashed with anger at the mention of bullying. It was as if an inferno had wrapped itself around the blonde. The rage that he was feeling was nearly tangible.

Fred and George took a step back.

"Where is he?"

Fred spoke, George was too stunned to utter a word.

"The fourth car from the front, in the third compartment on the left."

Naruto flashed them a smile so evil, it nearly petrified the brothers. It was a smile they recognized, having seen it on their own faces when they planned a particularly devious, borderline viscous, prank. Malfoy would not know what hit him.

Naruto stormed down the hallways, emitting an aura so dark that students moved out of his way in waves, parting like the waterfall he had cut in half with wind chakra.

Naruto yanked the compartment door open in time to see Malfoy smirk at a crying first year girl, her companions had looks of terror plastered on their faces as they huddled together. There was nothing they could.

"Why, if it isn't Malfoy. Who stuck a stick up your ass that gave you the sudden urge to traumatize first years?" Malfoy whirled to face the blonde, his face slightly paling as he remembered their last encounter. And the numerous threats he had received that day, most vividly the blood red eyes that had promised a fate far worse than death.

"I wouldn't be so cocky blondie. I'm sure you don't want to get a detention on the very first day of school."

Naruto's grin grew even wider as Crabbe and Goyle loomed behind Malfoy, trying to look intimidating. To Naruto, they looked as frightening as a newborn kitten. Actually, even less so. Newborn kittens tended to have overly protective mothers that weren't afraid of trying to claw out eyes.

Glancing around the compartment, he saw that the first years' trunks had been pulled down. Glaring at Malfoy, Naruto grabbed a trunk and put it back, only using one hand. The other five trunks soon followed. Turning to the awestruck first years, Naruto flashed them one of his brightest smiles.

"I'm sorry that you had to meet this bastard on your first day. We'll leave now so you can enjoy your trip in peace. I'm sure you have much to talk about since it's your first year attending Hogwarts."

Grabbing Malfoy's hand, he dragged him out of the compartment and down the hall, Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind them. Malfoy tried to yank his hand away, but Naruto's grip was stronger then steel. Naruto stopped when they were in the next car, releasing his hold on Malfoy as he turned to stare at the boy.

"If I ever catch you bullying anyone again, I'll let it slip to a certain someone with green eyes that you like them. Like them a little more then you let on." Malfoy paled at this.

"Do you know who I am?" Naruto blinked and then stared at him with his slitted, scarlet eyes. He was careful to only let Malfoy see, no need to gather unneeded attention.

"I wouldn't depend on your family's name since it can't fight your battles for you." Naruto turned on his heel and left a very stunned Malfoy behind.

The rest of the train ride passed with relative peace, and boredom on Naruto's part since Sasuke, Gaara, and Haku had locked him in the compartment after his little escapade. But they had allowed him to make a trip to the front of the train to see the witch that sold the candy.

He had told her that he would pay for all the candy that all the students would buy. So this year, when she made her rounds, she told the students to take as much as they wanted for free, as she was instructed to do by the blonde.

When she reached his compartment, he wiped out the very last of her supplies, giving her a slip of paper with written directions and his signature on the bottom. All she had to do was fill in the amount that he owed her and take it to Gringotts to collect. If she had any problems, she just had to tell the goblin to contact him and he would sort everything out. She couldn't help but smile at the blonde's kindness.

Hogwarts was going to be very different this year, and she was pretty certain that the blonde would be found at the very center of it all.

Naruto was dancing with excitement as he waited to exit the train. He had already changed into his robes long ago and had annoyed his companions by dancing around until Sasuke finally got fed up and tied him up. Naruto could have escaped, but he decided to pout and see how long it would take for someone to untie him.

He only had to wait for two minutes before Gaara finally gave in to his 'hurt puppy look' and untied him. Naruto had then contented himself to sleeping in Gaara's lap for the rest of the trip, clutching him like a teddy bear. By now, everyone was used to seeing the blonde hugging Gaara, but the first week had many of them believing the world was coming to an end.

Sasuke had finally gotten over his jealousy completely during the train ride, when Naruto began to call Gaara Nii-san after asking permission from Kankurou and Temari. Temari had made it clear that she would be offended if he didn't think of her as a sister and this had caused Naruto to burst into tears and cry his heart out into her shoulder.

Temari had simply held him, shocked that her words had such an impact of the blonde. Kankurou had also insisted for Naruto to think of him as an older brother or cousin. Naruto had cried for half an hour until he drifted off to sleep, still hugging Temari.

Only the Sand siblings had witnessed Naruto's breakdown, and they vowed as they watched the sleeping blonde, that they would do everything in their power to protect his heart and his happiness. Temari had slipped Naruto into Gaara's lap so she could slip away and quietly tell the others what had happened, leaving out no detail.

This had really opened their eyes to just how strong Naruto was. They had all grown up with a family, no matter how dysfunctional or messed up, and they all had at least one family member alive. Naruto had grown up with no one, and he was only shown hate, and yet he still had such a big heart. He truly cared for them, and despite hiding behind a mask, he had been completely honest with them.

He had only worn a mask to protect himself from being hurt, although it seemed that his mask was one that served to cover his pain. Sasuke had felt his jealousy melt away when he heard what had happened, all of the girls had tears in their eyes and all of the boys looked solemn, even Lee.

They also understood that Naruto would only think of the Sand siblings as family since he had such a close bond with Gaara. None of the fifteen shinobi were in the least bit jealous that he viewed three of them as family since they knew he viewed them as more than just friends.

They were his family, whether he saw them that way or not, it didn't change the way they felt towards the blonde. He had changed their lives for the better and brought them such joy and happiness, they were all determined to do as much as they could for him in return. Eventually they would manage to convince Naruto that they were his family as well.

It would just take time to knock the idea into the lovable, but stubborn blonde's head. They didn't mind though, he was worth the aggravation, no matter how hard headed he was or what pranks he pulled.

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A/N: Wow, this chapter is really short. It's actually the shortest chapter so far. It's still over two thousand words. I almost feel guilty about not posting another one. I have to study now, which means that my eyes are going to be bleeding soon enough. I can already feel the pain. Cookies, brownies, and pizza to all my readers and reviewers. No need to spread the doom and gloom after all.  
Blackfang8


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